Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This neighbourhood in Cork has a population of 4,278. Its architectural heritage runs to 382 buildings on the national inventory.
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Its lowest grade is for safety: recorded crime comes to 11.2 violent offences and 8.8 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Overall, St Luke's earns a C+, better than 41% of Irish towns. That places it #189 of 320 Irish towns. Where it does best is walkability (A+). 57% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train (the typical Irish town: 23%). Homes sell for a median €280,000, about 6.4 times what a household here earns in a year. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for health, B− for jobs & income and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, health and work, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · radon, EPA.
Health less sure: few enough residents report bad health that the town's figure could be well above or below its true level.
The 3 things St Luke's does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares St Luke's with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
The register holds 382 buildings on the National Inventory in St Luke's, one of them of national importance.
2 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near St Luke's. Best known first.
CathedralSt. Fin Barre's Cathedral1 km outside town, to the southwest
CathedralCathedral of St. Mary & St. Anne400 m outside town, to the west
CastleMTU Blackrock Castle Observatory3.3 km outside town, to the east
MuseumCork Butter Museum500 m outside town, to the west
Abbey or prioryRed Abbey800 m outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in St Luke's.
All told, 69.8 crimes per 1,000 residents are recorded each year. Among the 201 Irish towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, St Luke's has more crime per resident than 83% of them. The commonest graded crime in the town was assaults and harassment (2023–2025).
Not in the gradeTheft, public order and offences found by Garda checks (drugs, road traffic, dangerous acts) are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence, burglary and damage.
| Per 1,000 a year | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 11.2 | 5.5 | 5.7 |
| Burglary & damage | 8.8 | 4.8 | 6.4 |
| All recorded crime | 69.8 | 43.4 | 54.3 |
| Theft | 17.3 | 10.2 | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
The nearest secondary, Cork Educate Together Secondary School, is 0.1 km away. Families in St Luke's have 70 schools within 3 km to choose from: 39 primary schools, 23 secondary schools and 8 special schools. Single-sex secondaries: 48%, higher than both Co. Cork’s towns (44%) and Irish towns (39%).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Naomh Antaine BoysLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 581 | Catholic |
| Christian Brothers College BoysLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 919 | Catholic |
| Gaelcholáiste Mhuire GaelcholáisteTeaches through IrishPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 690 | Catholic |
| Coláiste Éamann Rís DEISIn the DEIS schemePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 811 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 51% | 35% | 35% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 48% | 44% | 39% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +1% | +2% | +4% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · There are no letters or results on these cards, because Ireland publishes none school by school.
Across the year it averages 11.0°C, near Co. Cork’s towns (10.8°C) and higher than Irish towns (10.3°C). On a January night, the temperature in St Luke's falls to about 3.6°C. A year brings 1,088 mm of rain to St Luke's.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average temperature over the year | 11.0°C | 10.8°C | 10.3°C |
| July high | 20.3°C | 20.0°C | 19.9°C |
| January low | 3.6°C | 3.5°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,088 mm | 1,114 mm | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Green space comes to 12.0 ha per 1,000 people in St Luke's, above Co. Cork’s towns (4.2 ha) and Irish towns (4.1 ha) alike. 100% of homes are within 400 m of green space. This Co. Cork town has 9 parks, with 51 ha of green space in all.
| Outdoors | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paths per km² of town | 6.0 km per km² | 1.7 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Near a park | 100% | 88% | 92% |
| Green space per 1,000 residents | 12.0 ha | 4.2 ha | 4.1 ha |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 2.8% | 1.4% | 1.8% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
The forecast for St Luke's beside its normal weather: a typical November day reaches 12°C and drops to 6°C at night. Expect roughly 1 mm of rain today, wind picking up to 26 km/h, and a low of 6°C. Tuesday looks like the wettest of the days that follow, with about 15 mm of rain.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 10°C | 4°C | 325 mm |
| Spring | 14°C | 6°C | 227 mm |
| Summer | 20°C | 12°C | 225 mm |
| Autumn | 15°C | 8°C | 310 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
People 65 and over make up nearly a tenth of the town, below Co. Cork’s towns (15%) and Irish towns (14%) alike. Children under 15 make up 9.8% of residents. 55% of adults hold a degree.
46.1% of St Luke's’ residents are women
1,973 women and 2,305 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 9.8% | 19% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 49% | 29% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 21% | 25% | 24% |
| 65+ | 8.5% | 15% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 5% | 8.3% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 7.3% | 14% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 26% | 34% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 6.4% | 5.9% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 55% | 38% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Cork and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Cork City Council has no ruling majority: Fianna Fáil hold 9 of its 31 seats, short of the 16 needed. One council serves St Luke's: Cork City Council. 43% of voters turned out at the last local elections, lower than both Co. Cork’s towns (45%) and Irish towns (46%).
| Turnout | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 43% | 45% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 58% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Relative to its size, St Luke's keeps 893 buildings on the inventory per 10,000 residents. Nearly three fifths of its homes were built before 1919, above Co. Cork’s towns (7.7%) and Irish towns (3.4%) alike. Beneath and around the town lie 2 recorded archaeological sites.
| Heritage | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 893 | 100 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 58.6% | 7.7% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 2 | 12 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Owners make up 30% of households, below Co. Cork’s towns (60%) and Irish towns (61%) alike. Council and housing-body homes hold 7% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €280,000 | 47 |
| Housing | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households renting privately | 62% | 21% | 22% |
| Households owning their home | 30% | 60% | 61% |
| Households in social housing | 7% | 14% | 13% |
| Median sale price | €280K | €360K | €350K |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
The EPA’s radon map puts 4% of homes in St Luke's above the reference level. On high landslide susceptibility: 0.6% of homes, close to Co. Cork’s towns (0.4%) and above Irish towns (0%).
| Share of homes | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near the coast | 3.1% | 0% | 0% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Weighed against its ages, bad health in St Luke's runs at 131 per 100 expected. A fifth of residents have a disability, below both Co. Cork’s towns (24%) and Irish towns (22%). Disability, age-adjusted: 102 for every 100 expected in the town.
| Census 2022 | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid carers | 3.6% | 5.9% | 5.4% |
| With a disability | 20% | 24% | 22% |
| Good or very good health | 89% | 88% | 88% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
17% of workers did their job mainly from home at the census. In work: 74% of residents aged 15 to 64, above both Co. Cork’s towns (69%) and Irish towns (68%). Of those in the labour force, 10% are unemployed.
| Census 2022 | St Luke's | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In work, 15 to 64 | 74% | 69% | 68% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 22% | 33% | 31% |
| Median household income | €44,050 | €54,720 | €57,760 |
| Unemployment rate | 10% | 7.9% | 9.2% |
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.
St Luke's has 382 buildings on the national inventory of architectural heritage, 1 of them rated of national or international importance. The national record lists 2 archaeological sites in and around the town.
No notable person born in St Luke's is on our list; these were born in the towns around it.
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Luke's | 4,278 | — | C+ | B− | D | B− |
| Blackpool | 3,124 | 0.9 | C | A | D | D |
| Shandon | 3,539 | 1 | C− | C+ | D | C− |
| Knockrea | 5,228 | 1.1 | B− | C− | D− | B+ |
| Montenotte | 4,113 | 1.2 | C | D | C | B− |
| Cork City Centre | 3,701 | 1.2 | D− | C− | D− | D |
| South Gate | 7,185 | 1.5 | D | C− | D− | D |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
St Luke's had 4,278 people at the 2022 census, up from 3,629 in 2016: 17.9% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in St Luke's is 35, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 10% of residents are under 15 and 9% are 65 or over.
Neighbourhood in Cork
4,278 people live in St Luke's, in the area of Cork City Council. TownRatings splits Cork into neighbourhoods made from the CSO’s Electoral Divisions, named from Tailte Éireann’s gazetteer, so each has figures of its own.
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) · TownRatings grades, run #544 (Irish towns only). 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).