Town comparison · Rathnew vs Shillelagh

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Rathnew or Shillelagh?

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.

Rathnew, Co. Wicklow · A67 · 3,237 people | Shillelagh, Co. Wicklow · Y14 · 183 people

Rathnew is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 5 of the 7 dimensions to Shillelagh’s 1, with 1 level.

Rathnew leads on
affluenceeducation levelsschools & amenitiespublic transportaccess to its nearest city
Shillelagh leads on
affordability
162511

Rathnew aheadlevel or not comparableShillelagh ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
RathnewShillelagh
iRathnew sits in A67, Shillelagh in Y14. 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.

Rathnew
Shillelagh

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.

3,237
Population
183

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€366k
Median sale pricelower is better
€245k
Shillelagh leads
€322k – €405k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€189k – €320k
350
Sales (24m)
13
N/A
Price momentum (YoY)
N/A
77.1%
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.

2 prim · 0 sec
Schools
2 prim · 0 sec
Rathnew · 2 schools (largest first)
St Coen's National School Primary
319 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Gaelscoil Chill Mhantáin Primary
251 pupils · Inter Denominational
Shillelagh · 2 schools (largest first)
Scoil Mhuire Na Naird Primary
80 pupils · Catholic
Shillelagh No 1 N S Primary
22 pupils · Church Of Ireland
6
Creches
0
Rathnew leads
N/A
GP practices
N/A
0
Pharmacies
0
0
Hospitals
0
18
Bus stops
4
Rathnew leads
0
Rail / Luas stops
0
5
Gyms & leisure
2
Rathnew leads
1
Parks & playgrounds
1
9
Sports pitches
4
Rathnew 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.

0
Restaurants
0
1
Cafés
0
Rathnew leads
3
Pubs & bars
2
Rathnew leads
1
Takeaways
1
0
Nightclubs
0
0
Cinema & theatre
0
647
Residents per venuelower is better
61
Shillelagh 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.

1
Supermarkets
1
1
Convenience shops
0
Rathnew leads
1
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
0
Rathnew leads
0
Banks
0
0
Post offices
1
Shillelagh leads
1
Hairdressers
1
0
Dentists
0
0
Vets
0
2
Filling stations
1
Rathnew leads
1
EV charging
0
Rathnew leads
0
Library & community centre
0
462
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
46
Shillelagh 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.

47m · ~80 rush
Dublinlower is better
95m · ~130 rush
Rathnew leads
97m · ~110 rush
Waterfordlower is better
79m · ~95 rush
Shillelagh leads
164m · ~180 rush
Limericklower is better
146m · ~165 rush
Shillelagh leads
194m · ~215 rush
Corklower is better
173m · ~195 rush
Shillelagh leads
175m · ~200 rush
Galwaylower is better
189m · ~215 rush
Rathnew leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-0.3
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-5.8
Rathnew leads
Rathnew · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-2Wicklow RuralBelow average
+1Wicklow RuralAbove average
Shillelagh · 2 EDs, poorest → richest
-8ShillelaghBelow average
-4ShillelaghBelow average
42.2%
Third-level educated
32.0%
Rathnew leads
45.6%
Professional class
35.8%
Rathnew leads
11.1%
Unemploymentlower is better
12.8%
Rathnew leads
73.3%
Owner-occupier
74.7%
Shillelagh leads
12.3%
Private rental
11.3%
10.2%
Social housing (LA)
13.0%

Liveability & safety

AREA · A67 / Y14

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (RathnewA67, ShillelaghY14); safety & crime are the Wicklow Garda division — so they read identically for both towns.

61/100
Quality of Life
65/100
Shillelagh leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (A67 / Y14) 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.

RathnewShillelaghOverall (avg)
Safety61706570
Affordability6891
Infrastructure4688
Family7775
Education3537
Environment8264
Economic4728
020406080100020406080100
#77
National ranklower is better
#50
Shillelagh leads
#4
County ranklower is better
#3
Shillelagh leads
70/100
Safety
70/100
43.8
Crime / 1,000
43.8

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.

Rathnew Below average-0.3
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Wicklow Rural -2 (least affluent) → Wicklow Rural +1 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Shillelagh Below average-5.8
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Shillelagh -8 (least affluent) → Shillelagh -4 (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 (Wicklow), 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 10 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Rathnew

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.