Town comparison · Monaghan vs Smithborough

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Monaghan or Smithborough?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 52 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Monaghan, Co. Monaghan · H18 · 7,894 people | Smithborough, Co. Monaghan · H18 · 320 people

Monaghan is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Smithborough’s 0, with 3 level.

Monaghan leads on
education levelsschools & amenitiespublic transportaccess to its nearest city
27178

Monaghan aheadlevel or not comparableSmithborough ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
MonaghanSmithborough
iBoth towns sit in the same Eircode area H18 — on the routing-key area page they would read as one number. At town level they diverge. Each figure below is tagged with the geographic level it’s actually measured at. The town ahead on a row is the one in green. Scores and percentages are charted against a true 0 to 100 scale; every other row is charted against the larger of the two towns, so the bars compare but don’t imply a ceiling.

Outlines are each town’s CSO Small Areas — the exact footprint every figure is measured over.

Monaghan
Smithborough

Size

TOWN · census

Resident population at the 2022 CSO census, summed over the Small Areas that make up each town. Not scored: a bigger town isn’t a better one, it just explains why the counts below differ.

7,894
Population
320

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€225k
Median sale pricelower is better
€218k
Smithborough leads
€155k – €290k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€195k – €235k
638
Sales (24m)
17
+49.1%
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
7.4%
New-build share
N/A

Schools, health & amenities

TOWN · counts

Facilities in and around each town — each counted once, for the town it’s closest to. Bigger towns naturally score higher — read alongside population.

5 prim · 5 sec
Schools
1 prim · 0 sec
Monaghan leads
Monaghan · 10 schools (largest first)
Beech Hill College Secondary
891 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
St. Macartan's College Secondary
619 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
St. Louis Secondary School Secondary
521 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Coláiste Oiriall Secondary
402 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Monaghan Collegiate School Secondary
249 pupils · 80% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONALFee-paying
Gaelscoil Ultain Primary
376 pupils · Catholic
St Louis Infant School Primary
227 pupils · CatholicDEIS
St Marys Bns Primary
222 pupils · CatholicDEIS
St. Louis Girls National School Primary
201 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Monaghan Model School Primary
192 pupils · Church Of Ireland
Smithborough · 1 schools (largest first)
Scoil Mhuire Primary
100 pupils · Catholic
11
Creches
1
Monaghan leads
N/A
GP practices
N/A
2
Pharmacies
0
Monaghan leads
3
Hospitals
0
Monaghan leads
36
Bus stops
2
Monaghan leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
12
Gyms & leisure
2
Monaghan leads
12
Parks & playgrounds
1
Monaghan leads
46
Sports pitches
3
Monaghan leads

Social life

TOWN · counts

Places to eat, drink and go out in and around each town — each counted once, for the town it’s closest to. The residents per venue row is the fairer read — raw counts just track town size, so a big town wins by being big.

9
Restaurants
0
Monaghan leads
11
Cafés
0
Monaghan leads
9
Pubs & bars
2
Monaghan leads
4
Takeaways
1
Monaghan leads
1
Nightclubs
0
Monaghan leads
3
Cinema & theatre
0
Monaghan leads
213
Residents per venuelower is better
107
Smithborough leads

Day-to-day

TOWN · counts

The errands you run without thinking about them. Same caveat — read the residents-per-service row alongside the counts.

5
Supermarkets
0
Monaghan leads
11
Convenience shops
1
Monaghan leads
3
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
Monaghan leads
3
Banks
0
Monaghan leads
1
Post offices
1
0
Hairdressers
0
0
Dentists
0
1
Vets
0
Monaghan leads
8
Filling stations
1
Monaghan leads
4
EV charging
0
Monaghan leads
3
Library & community centre
0
Monaghan leads
202
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
107
Smithborough leads

Commute by car

TOWN · from centre

Drive time from the town centre to each city centre — typical off-peak, with an estimated weekday rush hour. OSRM road routing.

101m · ~135 rush
Dublinlower is better
110m · ~145 rush
Monaghan leads
175m · ~200 rush
Galwaylower is better
166m · ~190 rush
Smithborough leads
213m · ~230 rush
Limericklower is better
204m · ~220 rush
Smithborough leads
207m · ~220 rush
Waterfordlower is better
216m · ~230 rush
Monaghan leads
268m · ~290 rush
Corklower is better
266m · ~290 rush
Smithborough leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-7.2
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-8
Monaghan leads
Monaghan · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-9Monaghan UrbanDisadvantaged
-6Monaghan RuralBelow average
Smithborough · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-9DrumsnatDisadvantaged
-7DrumsnatBelow average
30.8%
Third-level educated
26.9%
Monaghan leads
25.4%
Professional class
29.5%
Smithborough leads
10.7%
Unemploymentlower is better
11.0%
Monaghan leads
52.9%
Owner-occupier
70.0%
Smithborough leads
31.2%
Private rental
13.3%
13.9%
Social housing (LA)
11.5%

Liveability & safety

AREA · H18 / H18

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (MonaghanH18, SmithboroughH18); safety & crime are the Cavan/Monaghan Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

72/100
Quality of Life
72/100

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (H18 / H18) from official data — Garda crime, CSO income & census, OPW flood, EPA water, and transport/healthcare/broadband coverage. Refreshed quarterly. The dashed line is each town’s overall score (that average) — dimensions to its right beat the average, to its left fall short. Two towns can share a score with a very different mix.

MonaghanSmithboroughOverall (avg)
Safety72747274
Affordability100100
Infrastructure8888
Family7979
Education4444
Environment8282
Economic3838
020406080100020406080100
#4
National rank
#4
#1
County rank
#1
74/100
Safety
74/100
40
Crime / 1,000
40

Affluence range

Pobal HP deprivation index, published per Electoral Division, so the spread shows the town’s poorest to richest ED. A town that is a single ED shows one mark, no range.

Monaghan Below average-7.2
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Monaghan Urban -9 (least affluent) → Monaghan Rural -6 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.
Smithborough Below average-8.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Drumsnat -9 (least affluent) → Drumsnat -7 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.

How accurate is this, and at what level?

TOWN
Prices, amenities and commute are exact and town-specific.

Prices come from individual PPR sales inside the town’s Small-Area boundary; schools, GPs, transport, gyms and parks are counted the same way; commute is routed from the town centre.

ED
Affluence, profile and tenure are Electoral-Division level.

Published per Electoral Division and averaged across the town’s EDs, with a range where the town spans several.

AREA
Liveability and safety are wider-area, not the town.

Quality of life and rank are per Eircode routing key; safety and crime are the Garda division (Cavan/Monaghan), coarser than a town, so two towns in the same county read the same.

Population growth isn’t shown: the 2016 and 2022 censuses don’t use the same Small Areas, and the areas that were re-cut are the ones that grew, so a like-for-like comparison understates growth badly. Rent and yield are still too sparse to show per town. Built from 31 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Monaghan

The stronger town on the data.

Compare somewhere else

Put any two Irish towns head to head, or step up to the wider Eircode areas.