Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Just 9% of residents are 65 or older. Population 4,526: a town in Co. Dublin.
Health is its strong suit — 83 residents in bad health and 97 with a disability for every 100 its ages predict. Newcastle’s overall grade of B puts it better than 65% of Irish towns, #113 of 320 Irish towns. The local economy does well: unemployment is 7%, and 75% of 15 to 64s have a job. It is hard to get around without a car (C). 14% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train (the typical Irish town: 23%). Prices run to a median €436,300, 5.7 times local household income. Safety is weaker too (C+): violent crime runs at 5.3 per 1,000 residents a year, burglary and criminal damage at 7.5.
Figures: health, work and commuting, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO.
The 3 things Newcastle does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Newcastle 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 →
13 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Newcastle.
Within 3 km of Newcastle there are 11 schools (9 primary schools and 2 secondary schools). For secondary school, the closest is Holy Family Community School, 2.4 km from the town.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Family National SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 671 | Catholic |
| Holy Family Community SchoolLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Community school | Post-primary · Community school | 998 | Inter-denominational |
| Scoil Chronain GaelscoilTeaches through IrishPrimary | Primary | 354 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 40% | 35% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 40% | 39% |
| Teach through Irish | 18% | 7% | 8% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +18% | +4% | +4% |
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.
1.1% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below both Co. Dublin’s towns (1.9%) and Irish towns (2%). Self-reported good health: 92% of Newcastle’s residents. Ages taken into account, Newcastle counts 97 people with a disability for every 100 predicted.
| Census 2022 | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| With a disability | 18% | 22% | 22% |
| Bad or very bad health | 1.1% | 1.9% | 2% |
| Unpaid carers | 4.4% | 5.3% | 5.4% |
| Good or very good health | 92% | 89% | 88% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
About 1.6% of homes in Newcastle are estimated to pass the radon reference level. No part of Newcastle is mapped as high landslide susceptibility. Low ground by water holds almost none of its homes.
| Share of homes | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 0% | 0% | 0.5% |
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 0% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Households take home €76,711 a year before tax, on average. Working mainly from home: one in ten workers, below both Co. Dublin’s towns (14%) and Irish towns (11%). The jobless rate is 6.8%.
| Census 2022 | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In work, 15 to 64 | 75% | 71% | 68% |
| Median household income | €76,711 | €72,400 | €57,760 |
| Average trip | 32.3 min | 31.1 min | 27.6 min |
| Unemployment rate | 6.8% | 7.4% | 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.
All told, 86.1 crimes per 1,000 residents are recorded each year. Theft, shown but not graded, ran at 37.8 per 1,000 a year, above Co. Dublin’s towns (18.5) and Irish towns (15.3) alike. Of the graded crimes in Newcastle, damage to property came up most often (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 | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theft | 37.8 | 18.5 | 15.3 |
| All recorded crime | 86.1 | 59.2 | 54.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Between 2010 and 2025 the typical sale price in Newcastle rose 98%, to €495K: faster than the 77% rise across Irish towns. The owner-occupied share of households is 75%. 13% live in social housing, above Co. Dublin’s towns (10%) and close to Irish towns (13%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €475,000 | 97 |
| Second-hand homes | €380,000 | 119 |
| The last 12 months | €500,000 | 139 |
| Housing | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households owning their home | 75% | 66% | 61% |
| Households renting privately | 12% | 20% | 22% |
| Median sale price | €436K | €454K | €350K |
| Households in social housing | 13% | 10% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
825 mm of rain falls in a year, between Co. Dublin’s towns (770 mm) and Irish towns (937 mm). The mean temperature over a year in Newcastle is 9.7°C. November is the wettest month locally, with 89 mm of rain on average.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 1.9°C | 2.9°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 9.7°C | 10.3°C | 10.3°C |
| Rain a year | 825 mm | 770 mm | 937 mm |
| July high | 19.8°C | 19.9°C | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Within 1 km, 0.9% of the land is woodland, lower than both Co. Dublin’s towns (2.3%) and Irish towns (2.7%). One park and 14 ha of green space in all: that is Newcastle’s share. Green space in Newcastle works out at 3.0 ha per 1,000 people.
| Outdoors | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 61% | 100% | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 1.1 km per km² | 5.5 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Woodland within 1 km | 0.9% | 2.3% | 2.7% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 0% | 0.2% | 1.8% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
9.8% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below Co. Dublin’s towns (12%) and Irish towns (12%) alike. People 65 and over make up 8.7% of the town. Degrees are held by 38% of adults.
51.9% of Newcastle’s residents are women
2,349 women and 2,177 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 29% | 17% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 35% | 30% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 18% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 8.7% | 14% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 7.4% | 8.5% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 12% | 11% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 36% | 30% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 6.6% | 5.2% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 38% | 44% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Dublin and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
There is just one council for Newcastle, South Dublin County Council: Ireland has only one tier of local government. 56% voted at the general election. Local election turnout came to 41%.
| Turnout | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 41% | 42% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 56% | 57% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Homes from before 1919 make up 0.9% of the total, lower than both Co. Dublin’s towns (1.2%) and Irish towns (3.4%). The ground here holds 13 recorded archaeological sites. 24 of Newcastle’s buildings made the national inventory of architectural heritage; 1 rank of national or international importance.
| Heritage | Newcastle | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 53 | 9 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 0.9% | 1.2% | 3.4% |
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 Newcastle. Best known first.
Historic house · Office of Public WorksCastletown House3.8 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumBerkeley Costume and Toy Collection4.5 km outside town, to the northwestHistoric siteHistoric siteOughterard Round Tower3.3 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
24 of Newcastle’s buildings made the national inventory of architectural heritage; 1 rank of national or international importance. 13 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie here.
No notable person born in Newcastle is on our list; these were born in the towns around it.
Arthur Guinness: User Morrison1917 on en.wikipedia, Public domain · Aidan Higgins: Rub117, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cian Bolger: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Art O'Connor: not stated, Public domain
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
Newcastle had 4,526 people at the 2022 census, up from 3,470 in 2016: 30.4% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Newcastle is 33.9, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Dublin
Newcastle has 4,526 people, in the area of South Dublin 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).