Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan scores 66/100 for quality of life, #35 of the 108 Irish areas BuyerIQ ranks, and its fundamentals are rated “stagnating”. The median home sells for €277,500 (most €199,250–€320,000), it scores 74/100 for safety (40 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents), 5,377 people live here, up 0.1% since 2016. It's strongest on affordability and transport & services, weakest on schools & education.
Updated August 2026 · Property Price Register + 20+ official sources, refreshed daily
Below average today — improving in absolute terms, but falling behind the national trend.
Ranked on quality of life alone — cost of living excluded, so the genuinely best areas rank top even though they cost more. Factor in price and Carrickmacross is #18 of 108 for value for money (most quality of life per euro).
5,377 people, up 0.1% since 2016.
26th most vibrant small town in Ireland, of 129 ranked.
Vibrancy is the plain count of places to eat, drink and go out — restaurants, cafés, pubs, takeaways, nightclubs and cinemas inside the town boundary. Per head is the different question of whether a town is well served for its size.
Ranked against small towns only. Tourist towns read high — the venues are real, but not all of them are there for the people who live here.
Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, scores 66/100 on BuyerIQ's Quality of Life composite (cost of living excluded) — #35 of the 108 areas we rank. It's strongest on affordability and transport & services.
Carrickmacross scores 74/100 on safety, ~40.0 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.
The median sale price in Carrickmacross over the last 24 months was €277,500, most between €199,250 and €320,000 (Property Price Register).
Carrickmacross is rated "Stagnating" — unemployment fell 17% → 11%, in line with nationally, population grew just 0.1% vs 8% nationally.
About 19% of homes sold in Carrickmacross in the last 24 months were new builds (Property Price Register).
26 planning applications were lodged within Carrickmacross in the last 12 months, covering 5 residential units (187 on record) — measured per town, not just at county level.
Carrickmacross scores 80/100 for families and community, and its population is growing (up 0.1% since 2016).
Carrickmacross scores 32/100 for schools and education, with 6 schools in the area.
Carrickmacross is about 70 minutes by road from Dublin.
Sale prices from the Property Price Register (rolling 24 months). Quality of Life averages seven equal-weighted dimensions from 40+ metrics across 13 public datasets (CSO census + SAPS, Garda crime, SEAI, EPA, DES schools, GTFS). Population is CSO Census 2022; the “on the up” trajectory compares 2016→2022. Figures refresh daily · an area assessment, not advice on a specific property. Updated August 2026.