Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,768 in Co. Donegal.
What it saves you on housing, it gives back elsewhere. Overall, Carndonagh earns a B−, which places it #2 of 6 in Co. Donegal. On that grade it does better than 51% of Irish towns. Buying a home costs less than in most towns (A+): the median home here went for €140,000, 4 times the median household income. Jobs & income is its weak spot — jobs reach 61% of 15 to 64s, and unemployment is 15%.
Figures: prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · work, CSO Census 2022.
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 Carndonagh does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Carndonagh 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 record adds 17 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 6%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Carndonagh.
No town in Co. Donegal costs less to buy into than Carndonagh, at €140,000, the lowest of 6. 19% live in social housing, above Co. Donegal’s towns (14%) and Irish towns (13%) alike. Owners make up 53% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €140,000 | 73 |
| Housing | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €140K | €185K | €350K |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €740 | €873 | €1,606 |
| Households in social housing | 19% | 14% | 13% |
| Households owning their home | 53% | 58% | 61% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
The closest place to swim from Carndonagh is Culdaff, 9.4 km away, rated excellent in 2025. On high landslide susceptibility: 0.7% of homes, close to Co. Donegal’s towns (0.2%) and above Irish towns (0%). By estimate, fewer than one home in a hundred in the town has radon above the reference level.
| Share of homes | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0% |
| Low-lying near a river | 0% | 4.8% | 0.5% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Short trips: 57% under 15 minutes, near Co. Donegal’s towns (55%) and higher than Irish towns (31%). On average, the journey to work lasts 21.6 min. Just over one in ten commuters left the car at home at the census, walking, cycling or taking public transport.
| Census 2022 | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 15% | 12% | 9.2% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 57% | 55% | 31% |
| Median household income | €34,834 | €41,333 | €57,760 |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 61% | 63% | 68% |
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.
A quarter of residents have a disability, close to Co. Donegal’s towns (25%) and above Irish towns (22%). Asked at the census, 85% of residents of Carndonagh said they were in good or very good health. In the HSE West and North West health region, 34% of people hold a medical card.
| Census 2022 | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 86% | 88% |
| Unpaid carers | 5.2% | 6% | 5.4% |
| With a disability | 25% | 25% | 22% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.3% | 2.4% | 2% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Within 3 km of Carndonagh there are 7 schools (6 primary schools and 1 secondary school). Carndonagh Community School is the nearest secondary school, 0.1 km away. Pupil numbers changed +4% since 2019/20, lower than Co. Donegal’s towns (+10%) yet higher than Irish towns (+4%).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Naomh Colmchille DEISLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 186 | Catholic |
| Carndonagh Community School DEISLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Community school | Post-primary · Community school | 1,118 | Inter-denominational |
| Scoil Naomh Padraig DEISIn the DEIS schemePrimary | Primary | 163 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 100% | 33% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 13% | 8% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 0% | 39% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +4% | +10% | +4% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · You won’t find letters or results below: Ireland publishes none for single schools.
January nights bottom out at 3.0°C in Carndonagh, above Co. Donegal’s towns (2.4°C) and close to Irish towns (2.9°C). Over twelve months, Carndonagh averages 9.6°C. Also worth knowing: the town gets 1,351 mm of rain a year.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 17.6°C | 18.7°C | 19.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,351 mm | 1,280 mm | 937 mm |
| Average temperature over the year | 9.6°C | 9.7°C | 10.3°C |
| January low | 3.0°C | 2.4°C | 2.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
2 parks and 12 ha of green space in all: that is Carndonagh’s share. Protected sites cover 5.1% of the land within 5 km, higher than both Co. Donegal’s towns (4.3%) and Irish towns (1.8%). Green space lies within 400 m of 63% of homes.
| Outdoors | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 63% | 53% | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.1 km per km² | 0.4 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Woodland within 1 km | 4.9% | 4% | 2.7% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 5.1% | 4.3% | 1.8% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
The coming days top out somewhere between 8°C and 10°C; Thursday looks warmest. In Carndonagh, the November norm is a high of 10°C and a low of 5°C. It should stay dry today, with a fresh breeze of up to 27 km/h and a low near 7°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 8°C | 3°C | 423 mm |
| Spring | 12°C | 5°C | 262 mm |
| Summer | 17°C | 11°C | 286 mm |
| Autumn | 13°C | 8°C | 381 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
One measure of family life: just over a fifth of residents are under 15. Daily Irish speakers outside school: 0.9%, lower than both Co. Donegal’s towns (1.3%) and Irish towns (1.1%). 21% of residents were born abroad.
Women make up 51.8% of Carndonagh
1,435 women and 1,333 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 22% | 21% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 29% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 16% | 16% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 19% | 13% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 32% | 35% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 5.8% | 6.6% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 25% | 31% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Donegal and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Local elections drew 53% of voters to the polls last time. Donegal County Council is the council for Carndonagh, and the only one: Ireland has a single tier of local government. There is no majority on Donegal County Council; Fianna Fáil have the most seats, 10 of 37, short of 19.
| Turnout | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 53% | 53% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 59% | 59% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
5.7% of its homes were built before 1919, higher than both Co. Donegal’s towns (4%) and Irish towns (3.4%). Its archaeology runs to 17 recorded sites. The national inventory of architectural heritage lists 32 buildings in Carndonagh, each rated of regional importance.
| Heritage | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 116 | 96 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 5.7% | 4% | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Homes saw 4.9 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Co. Donegal’s towns (5.9) and Irish towns (6.4) alike. All told, 30.3 crimes per 1,000 residents are recorded each year. More of the graded crimes in Carndonagh were assaults and harassment than anything else (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 | Carndonagh | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| All recorded crime | 30.3 | 51.4 | 54.3 |
| Theft | 2.4 | 5.3 | 15.3 |
| Burglary & damage | 4.9 | 5.9 | 6.4 |
| Violent crime | 5.7 | 9.9 | 5.7 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
2 places to visit are mapped within 5 km of Carndonagh; with them, the best known within 40 km.
CastleCarrickabraghy Castle9.9 km northwest
Castle · Office of Public WorksDoe Castle40 km west
MuseumFort Dunree Military Museum19 km west
CastleNorthburgh Castle19 km east
CastleBurt Castle29 km southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The national inventory of architectural heritage lists 32 buildings in Carndonagh, each rated of regional importance. 17 archaeological sites are on the record here.
6 notable people were born in Carndonagh.
Gary Doherty: Nick from Bristol, UK, CC BY 2.0 · John Colgan: Emmanuel di Como, Public domain · John Wallace Crawford: Bennett and Brown photographers, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Public domain · Honoria Lawrence: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carndonagh | 2,768 | — | B− | A+ | B− | C |
| Moville | 1,390 | 16 | — | A− | A− | C+ |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 17 | C+ | A | C− | B− |
| Greencastle | 1,268 | 18 | — | B | A− | B |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Carndonagh had 2,768 people at the 2022 census, up from 2,591 in 2016: 6.8% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Donegal
Carndonagh has 2,768 people, in the area of Donegal 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) · 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).