Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 439 people, lies in Co. Donegal. It grew by 10% between the 2016 and 2022 censuses.
Set against the median household income, the median home, at €270,000, costs 6.2 times as much. Its architectural heritage runs to 17 buildings on the national inventory. Homes here sold for a median €203,300 over 2023 to 2025. People aged 65 and over make up 23% of residents.
There are no grades for Dunfanaghy: Irish towns need 1,000 residents for them.
The 3 things Dunfanaghy does most differently from other towns.
3 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
10% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Dunfanaghy.
Pupil numbers changed −5% since 2019/20, below both Co. Donegal’s towns (+7%) and Irish towns (+4%). Families in Dunfanaghy have 5 schools within 3 km to choose from: 5 primary schools.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murroe National School DEISLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 50 | Catholic |
| S N na Croise Naofa DEISIn the DEIS schemePrimary | Primary | 33 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 80% | 38% | 35% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | −5% | +7% | +4% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 7% | 8% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Without school-level results from Ireland, the cards show no letters.
2.1% of homes stand low near the coast, above Co. Donegal’s towns (0%) and Irish towns (0%) alike. Dunfanaghy’s nearest bathing water is Killahoey, 1.7 km away, rated excellent in 2025. By estimate, fewer than one home in a hundred here has radon above the reference level.
| Share of homes | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 29% | 4.2% | 0.5% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 1.8% | 0.5% | 0% |
| Low-lying near the coast | 2.1% | 0% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
A year brings 1,306 mm of rain, about level with Co. Donegal’s towns (1,316 mm) and above Irish towns (937 mm). Taken over the whole year, the average temperature in Dunfanaghy is 10.0°C. Expect January lows of around 3.2°C here.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 17.9°C | 18.6°C | 19.9°C |
| January low | 3.2°C | 2.5°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,306 mm | 1,316 mm | 937 mm |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.0°C | 9.7°C | 10.3°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Weighed against its ages, disability in Dunfanaghy runs at 103 per 100 expected. Unpaid carers make up 7.3% of residents, above both Co. Donegal’s towns (5.8%) and Irish towns (5.4%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 0.9% of the town. In the HSE West and North West health region, just over a third of people hold a medical card.
| Census 2022 | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid carers | 7.3% | 5.8% | 5.4% |
| Bad or very bad health | 0.9% | 2.4% | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 85% | 86% | 88% |
| With a disability | 25% | 25% | 22% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Private tenants account for 17% of households. 67% of households own their home, above both Co. Donegal’s towns (55%) and Irish towns (61%). The social rented sector houses just over one in ten households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €260,000 | 42 |
| Housing | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households owning their home | 67% | 55% | 61% |
| Median sale price | €270K | €181K | €350K |
| Households renting privately | 17% | 24% | 22% |
| Households in social housing | 12% | 15% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Woodland covers 2.6% of the land within 1 km, lower than Co. Donegal’s towns (4.5%) and near Irish towns (2.7%). Protected nature near Dunfanaghy includes Horn Head. For 100% of homes, green space is under 400 m away.
| Outdoors | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected nature within 5 km | 34% | 4.7% | 1.8% |
| Sea within 5 km | 38% | 8.7% | 0% |
| Near a park | 100% | 54% | 92% |
| Woodland within 1 km | 2.6% | 4.5% | 2.7% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Commutes averaged 24.2 min, higher than Co. Donegal’s towns (20.9 min) yet lower than Irish towns (27.6 min). At the census, 15% of commuters got to work without a car. Unemployment stands at 7.6%.
| Census 2022 | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 7.6% | 13% | 9.2% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 46% | 56% | 31% |
| Average trip | 24.2 min | 20.9 min | 27.6 min |
| Median household income | €43,760 | €39,838 | €57,760 |
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.
Under 15: 16% of residents. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 8.9% of residents, below Co. Donegal’s towns (12%) and Irish towns (12%) alike. Among adults, 36% have a degree.
52.8% of Dunfanaghy’s residents are women
232 women and 207 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 21% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 28% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 23% | 24% |
| 65+ | 23% | 16% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 11% | 14% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 11% | 16% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 32% | 34% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 10% | 6.2% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 36% | 29% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Donegal and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Turnout at the last local elections was 54%, about level with Co. Donegal’s towns (53%) and above Irish towns (46%). Donegal County Council runs Dunfanaghy: Ireland has one tier of local government, with no town council below it. In the Dáil, Dunfanaghy is part of Donegal, which elects 5 TDs.
| Turnout | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 54% | 53% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 59% | 59% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Archaeologists have recorded 3 sites here.
| Heritage | Dunfanaghy | Co. Donegal | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 387 | 105 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 10.2% | 4.7% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 3 | 18 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Dunfanaghy. Best known first.
17 of Dunfanaghy’s buildings made the national inventory of architectural heritage, all at regional importance. The national record lists 3 archaeological sites in and around the town.
The median age in Dunfanaghy is 46.8, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Dunfanaghy had 439 people at the 2022 census, up from 400 in 2016: 9.7% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Donegal
439 people live in Dunfanaghy, 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). 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).