Town comparison · Newcastle vs Rathcoole

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Newcastle or Rathcoole?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 53 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Newcastle, Co. South Dublin · D22 · 2,914 people | Rathcoole, Co. Cork · P51 · 218 people

Newcastle and Rathcoole are closely matched. Each leads on 3 of the 7 dimensions, with 1 level.

Newcastle leads on
education levelsschools & amenitiespublic transport
Rathcoole leads on
affluencesafetyaffordability
211715

Newcastle aheadlevel or not comparableRathcoole ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
NewcastleRathcoole
iNewcastle sits in D22, Rathcoole in P51. 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.

Newcastle
Rathcoole

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.

2,914
Population
218

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€441k
Median sale pricelower is better
€268k
Rathcoole leads
€419k – €486k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€204k – €307k
219
Sales (24m)
16
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
53.9%
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.

1 prim · 0 sec
Schools
1 prim · 0 sec
Newcastle · 1 schools (largest first)
Caisleain Nua Liamhna Primary
644 pupils · Catholic
Rathcoole · 1 schools (largest first)
S N Breandan Naofa Primary
75 pupils · Catholic
7
Creches
2
Newcastle leads
2
GP practices
N/A
1
Pharmacies
0
Newcastle leads
0
Hospitals
0
29
Bus stops
0
Newcastle leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
3
Gyms & leisure
1
Newcastle leads
11
Parks & playgrounds
0
Newcastle leads
20
Sports pitches
1
Newcastle 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.

1
Restaurants
0
Newcastle leads
4
Cafés
0
Newcastle leads
1
Pubs & bars
0
Newcastle leads
3
Takeaways
0
Newcastle leads
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
324
Residents per venue
N/A
#98 of 131 small towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#66 of 131 small towns
Rathcoole 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.

2
Supermarkets
0
Newcastle leads
3
Convenience shops
0
Newcastle leads
5
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
Newcastle leads
0
Banks
0
1
Post offices
0
Newcastle leads
2
Hairdressers
0
Newcastle leads
1
Dentists
0
Newcastle leads
0
Vets
0
3
Filling stations
0
Newcastle leads
12
EV charging
0
Newcastle leads
2
Library & community centre
0
Newcastle leads
94
Residents per shop or service
N/A

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.

26m · ~50 rush
Dublinlower is better
24m · ~50 rush
Rathcoole leads
102m · ~115 rush
Waterfordlower is better
99m · ~115 rush
Rathcoole leads
124m · ~140 rush
Limericklower is better
121m · ~140 rush
Rathcoole leads
140m · ~165 rush
Galwaylower is better
146m · ~170 rush
Newcastle leads
163m · ~185 rush
Corklower is better
160m · ~180 rush
Rathcoole leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-4.2
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-1.5
Rathcoole leads
Newcastle · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-8NewcastleDisadvantaged
+0NewcastleAbove average
Rathcoole · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-3RathcoolBelow average
+0RathcoolAbove average
35.8%
Third-level educated
28.9%
Newcastle leads
32.0%
Professional class
35.1%
Rathcoole leads
10.9%
Unemploymentlower is better
7.1%
Rathcoole leads
51.6%
Owner-occupier
83.5%
Rathcoole leads
21.3%
Private rental
11.7%
11.2%
Social housing (LA)
3.8%

Liveability & safety

AREA · D22 / P51

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (NewcastleD22, RathcooleP51); safety & crime are the DMR West Garda division.

54/100
Quality of Life
64/100
Rathcoole leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (D22 / P51) 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.

NewcastleRathcooleOverall (avg)
Safety54486456
Affordability7999
Infrastructure10057
Family5482
Education2241
Environment6266
Economic1149
020406080100020406080100
#101
National ranklower is better
#58
Rathcoole leads
#24
County ranklower is better
#12
Rathcoole leads
48/100
Safety
56/100
Rathcoole leads
79.6
Crime / 1,000lower is better
67
Rathcoole leads

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.

Newcastle Below average-4.2
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Newcastle -8 (least affluent) → Newcastle +0 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Rathcoole Below average-1.5
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Rathcool -3 (least affluent) → Rathcool +0 (most affluent). It straddles 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 (DMR West), 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 8 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Newcastle

The towns are level, so these are from the first.

Compare somewhere else

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