Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Co. Carlow, home to 801 people. It grew by 8% between the 2016 and 2022 censuses.
Half the homes sold for more than €272,400, a price of 4.4 times what the median household earns. The car is not the only way to work here: nearly one in ten commuters walk, cycle or use public transport.
Ballon has no grades yet: Irish towns are graded from 1,000 residents up.
The one thing Ballon does most differently from other towns.
The record adds 5 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 6%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ballon.
Families in Ballon have one school within 3 km. 239 pupils attend the one school within 3 km of the town.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Peadar agus Pol Special classesLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 239 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils since 2019/20 | −15% | +4% | +4% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 50% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 0% | 8% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Ireland publishes no school-by-school results, which is why these cards have no letters.
Radon: an estimated 11% of homes in Ballon are over the reference level. 100% of its homes sit in high-radon areas, near Co. Carlow’s towns (100%) and higher than Irish towns (0%). Very few of its homes sit on low ground by water.
| Share of homes | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| On high landslide susceptibility | 9.7% | under 0.1% | 0% |
| In high-radon areas | 100% | 100% | 0% |
| Low-lying near a river | 0% | 6.9% | 0.5% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
The year’s mean temperature is 9.9°C, close to Co. Carlow’s towns (10.1°C) and below Irish towns (10.3°C). Expect July highs of around 20.0°C in Ballon. Also worth knowing: the town gets 980 mm of rain a year.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 2.1°C | 2.3°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 9.9°C | 10.1°C | 10.3°C |
| July high | 20.0°C | 20.3°C | 19.9°C |
| Rain a year | 980 mm | 892 mm | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Disability touches just over a fifth of Ballon’s population. For its ages, Ballon has 98 people with a disability for every 100 expected, below Co. Carlow’s towns (120) and Irish towns (106) alike. 89% of people in Ballon rate their own health good or very good.
| Census 2022 | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid carers | 4.5% | 5.3% | 5.4% |
| With a disability | 21% | 24% | 22% |
| Good or very good health | 89% | 85% | 88% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.2% | 2.5% | 2% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Social housing holds 9% of households, lower than both Co. Carlow’s towns (24%) and Irish towns (13%). Private tenants account for 18% of households.
| Housing | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households in social housing | 9% | 24% | 13% |
| Households owning their home | 71% | 54% | 61% |
| Median sale price | €272K | €250K | €350K |
| Households renting privately | 18% | 22% | 22% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure · The price is for the postcode area R93, not the town alone: too few sales inside the town carry a full address.
Woodland covers 0.4% of the land within 1 km, below Co. Carlow’s towns (1.3%) and Irish towns (2.7%) alike. Protected sites cover 1.2% of the land within 5 km, below Co. Carlow’s towns (2%) and Irish towns (1.8%) alike.
| Outdoors | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 0% | 72% | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.0 km per km² | 0.5 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Woodland within 1 km | 0.4% | 1.3% | 2.7% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 1.2% | 2% | 1.8% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Over the coming week, Tuesday looks wettest, with about 4 mm of rain. Expect little more than a sprinkle today, wind picking up to 25 km/h, and a low of 6°C. December follows with normal highs of 9°C and lows of 2°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 2°C | 266 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 5°C | 201 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 11°C | 221 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 7°C | 292 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Workers spend 27.8 min getting to work, on average. 81% of commuters drove, above both Co. Carlow’s towns (73%) and Irish towns (66%). The unemployment rate comes to 7.5%.
| Census 2022 | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 7.5% | 12% | 9.2% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 69% | 62% | 68% |
| Median household income | €61,440 | €46,763 | €57,760 |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 35% | 43% | 31% |
CSO, Census 2022 travel to work, work and education · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · Live Register · Census day was 3 April 2022, with working from home still common; shares are of those who travelled.
One measure of family life: 23% of residents are under 15. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 14% of residents, above both Co. Carlow’s towns (12%) and Irish towns (12%). Graduates make up a third of adults.
Women make up 50.4% of Ballon
404 women and 397 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 23% | 20% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 14% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 30% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 23% | 24% |
| 65+ | 12% | 12% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 9.1% | 12% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 14% | 19% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 36% | 38% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 8.8% | 6.5% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 33% | 19% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Carlow and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Carlow County Council is the council for Ballon, and the only one: Ireland has a single tier of local government. There is no majority on Carlow County Council; Fine Gael have the most seats, 6 of 18, short of 10. In the Dáil, Ballon is part of Carlow-Kilkenny, which elects 5 TDs.
| Turnout | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 49% | 49% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 58% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
6% of its homes were built before 1919, higher than both Co. Carlow’s towns (3.5%) and Irish towns (3.4%). Per 10,000 residents, Ballon counts 37 inventory buildings. The ground here holds 5 recorded archaeological sites.
| Heritage | Ballon | Co. Carlow | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1919 | 6% | 3.5% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 5 | 19 | 11 |
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 37 | 37 | 48 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
One place to visit is mapped within 5 km of Ballon; with it, the best known within 40 km.
CastleBallymoon Castle9.6 km southwest
CastleBallyloughan Castle11 km north
CastleCarlow Castle15 km northwest
CastleKilkenny Castle33 km west
CastleHuntington Castle and Gardens10 km southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The national inventory of architectural heritage lists 3 buildings in Ballon, each rated of regional importance. 5 archaeological sites are on the record here.
One notable person was born in Ballon; with them, the best known born in the towns around it.
Pat Walker: Jarvin, CC BY 3.0 · Charles K. Gerrard: Selznick Pictures Corporation / Select Pictures Corporation, Public domain
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
Ballon had 801 people at the 2022 census, up from 742 in 2016: 8% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Ballon is 38.9, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Carlow
Ballon has 801 people, in the area of Carlow County Council. TownRatings uses the CSO’s 2022 Urban Areas as Ireland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a county or a council area, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from Tailte Éireann’s boundaries and the CSO’s Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0)
Sources: CSO, Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics (CC BY 4.0) · Tailte Éireann, Urban Areas and Electoral Divisions 2022 (CC BY 4.0). Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).