Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)Co. Laois vs RathdowneyCo. LaoisTown level

The same comparison as the area page, but measured for the town itself, not the whole Eircode routing key.

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iBoth towns sit in the same Eircode area R32 — 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.
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)
Rathdowney

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

TOWNS
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)
Co. LAOIS · in R32 · pop · 79 small areas
Rathdowney
Co. LAOIS · in R32 · pop 604 · 5 small areas
Prices & market● TOWN · exact
Median sale price
€272k
€156k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€205k – €330k
€105k – €210k
Sales (24m)
1,217
10
Price momentum (YoY)
+35.9%
+53.3%
New-build share
17.4%
0.0%
Schools, health & amenities● TOWN · counts
Count of each facility whose location falls inside the town boundary. Bigger towns naturally score higher — read alongside population.
Schools
3 prim · 2 sec
1 prim · 1 sec
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) · 5 schools (largest first)
Portlaoise College Secondary
952 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Dunamase College (coláiste Dhún Másc) Secondary
577 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Scoil Bhride Ns Primary
737 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Holy Family Senior School Primary
643 pupils · Catholic
Holy Family Junior School Primary
601 pupils · Catholic
Rathdowney · 2 schools (largest first)
St Fergal's College Secondary
368 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONAL
Scoil Bhride Primary
240 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Creches
21
2
GP practices
0
0
Pharmacies
12
1
Hospitals
3
0
Bus stops
76
2
Rail / Luas stops
1
0
Gyms & leisure
10
1
Parks & playgrounds
9
1
Sports pitches
23
3
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.
Limerick
81m · ~100 rush
67m · ~85 rush
Dublin
69m · ~105 rush
92m · ~125 rush
Waterford
85m · ~100 rush
79m · ~95 rush
Cork
120m · ~140 rush
105m · ~125 rush
Galway
121m · ~145 rush
119m · ~145 rush
Affluence & profile● ELECTORAL DIVISION
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-5
-9.4
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-10Portlaoighise UrbanDisadvantaged
-8BorrisBelow average
-4Portlaoighise RuralBelow average
+1ClondarrigAbove average
Rathdowney · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-11RathdowneyDisadvantaged
-4RathsaranBelow average
Third-level educated
36.3%
22.8%
Professional class
32.5%
25.6%
Unemployment
12.1%
10.1%
Owner-occupier
62.3%
68.1%
Private rental
21.4%
17.9%
Social housing (LA)
12.1%
8.4%
Liveability & safety● AREA · R32 / R32
Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)R32, RathdowneyR32); safety & crime are the Laois/Offaly Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.
Quality of Life
59/100
59/100
National rank
#85
#85
County rank
#1
#1
Safety
40/100
40/100
Crime / 1,000
90.8
90.8

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.

Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) Below average-5.0
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Portlaoighise Urban -10 (least affluent) → Clondarrig +1 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Rathdowney Disadvantaged-9.4
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Rathdowney -11 (least affluent) → Rathsaran -4 (most affluent). Every neighbourhood is below the national average.

How accurate is this, and at what level?

● TOWN
Prices, amenities & commute — exact, 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. The figures the routing-key area page can't give you.

● ED
Affluence, profile & tenure — Electoral-Division level.

Pobal HP, third-level, class, unemployment, tenure are published per Electoral Division and averaged across the town's EDs — a range where the town spans several EDs (see the bar above).

● AREA
Liveability & safety — wider-area, not the town.

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

Population & growth are loaded for ~7 counties so far (not Leinster yet); rent & yield are too sparse per town. Tap Schools or Affluence to drill in. Built from 84 CSO Small Areas.
AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough)Rathdowney
The verdict

Portlaoise (formerly Maryborough) is the stronger town on the data — it leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Rathdowney’s 1, with 2 level: affluence, education levels, schools & amenities and public transport. Rathdowney leads on affordability.

Higher is better on every spoke — affluence, education, amenity density, transport, safety, affordability and nearest-city access, scored head-to-head.

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