Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It grew by 19% between the 2016 and 2022 censuses. The neighbourhood has 6,749 residents and lies in Dublin.
Real strengths, and real weak spots. O'Connell Street grades C overall, better than 29% of Irish towns. In the ranking it comes #228 of 320 Irish towns. Safety is its weak spot — violent crime runs at 40.7 per 1,000 residents a year, burglary and criminal damage at 28.6. Cost of living is weaker too — homes sell for a median €344,800, about 6 times what a household here earns in a year. Where it does best is walkability — on the way to work, 78% walk, cycle or take the bus or train, where the typical Irish town has 23%. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for health and C+ for jobs & income.
Figures: commuting, health and work, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO.
This town's house price is the median for its whole Eircode routing key, town and countryside together: fewer than 30 sales in the town itself were recorded on the Property Price Register in 2023 to 2025, so its Cost Grade is less sure. Crime here is counted against the people who live here, but much of it involves people who come in to work, shop or go out, so the rate per resident runs higher than residents' own risk. 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 O'Connell Street does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares O'Connell Street 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 465 buildings on the National Inventory in O'Connell Street, 15 of them of national importance.
31 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
14% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near O'Connell Street. Best known first.
CathedralSt. Mary's Cathedralin town
MuseumThe National Leprechaun Museumin town
Big drawMuseumNational Museum of Ireland800 m outside town, to the southeast · 783K visitors a year
CathedralSt Patrick's Cathedral700 m outside town, to the southwest
MuseumNational Library of Ireland700 m outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseLeinster House800 m outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in O'Connell Street.
More of the graded crimes in O'Connell Street were assaults and harassment than anything else (2023–2025). Thefts came to 173.7 per 1,000 a year (not part of the grade), above both Co. Dublin’s towns (18.5) and Irish towns (15.3).
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 | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 40.7 | 5.3 | 5.7 |
| Burglary & damage | 28.6 | 7.5 | 6.4 |
| Theft | 173.7 | 18.5 | 15.3 |
| All recorded crime | 415.2 | 59.2 | 54.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Pupil numbers changed +9% since 2019/20, above Co. Dublin’s towns (+4%) and Irish towns (+4%) alike. 124 schools lie within 3 km of O'Connell Street: 77 primary schools, 36 secondary schools and 11 special schools. Mount Carmel Secondary School is the nearest secondary school, 0.5 km away.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Christopher's NS DEISLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 598 | Catholic |
| Belvedere College S.J BoysLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 1,011 | Catholic |
| Scoil Chaitriona GaelcholáisteTeaches through IrishPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 523 | Catholic |
| St Mary's Secondary School DEISIn the DEIS schemePost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 830 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 52% | 40% | 35% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +9% | +4% | +4% |
| Teach through Irish | 9% | 7% | 8% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Ireland doesn’t publish results for individual schools, so none of these carries a letter.
O'Connell Street’s nearest bathing water is Sandymount Strand, 4.6 km away, rated sufficient in 2025. For radon, the estimate for O'Connell Street is 3.8% of homes above the reference level. No part of O'Connell Street is mapped as high landslide susceptibility.
| Share of homes | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 100% | 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.
For its ages, O'Connell Street has 159 people in bad health for every 100 expected, above Co. Dublin’s towns (103) and Irish towns (113) alike. Unpaid caring falls to 1.9% of the town’s residents. A disability affects 12% of people locally.
| Census 2022 | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| With a disability | 12% | 22% | 22% |
| Unpaid carers | 1.9% | 5.3% | 5.4% |
| Good or very good health | 90% | 89% | 88% |
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 75% of households.
| Housing | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households owning their home | 11% | 66% | 61% |
| Households renting privately | 75% | 19% | 22% |
| Median sale price | €345K | €454K | €350K |
| Households in social housing | 11% | 10% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure · The price is for the postcode area D01, not the town alone: too few sales inside the town carry a full address.
A July afternoon in O'Connell Street typically reaches 20.1°C. The year’s mean temperature is 10.6°C, above Co. Dublin’s towns (10.3°C) and Irish towns (10.3°C) alike. The town gets 747 mm of rain a year.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average temperature over the year | 10.6°C | 10.3°C | 10.3°C |
| January low | 3.3°C | 2.9°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 747 mm | 770 mm | 937 mm |
| July high | 20.1°C | 19.9°C | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Within 5 km, 7% is sea, above both Co. Dublin’s towns (3.7%) and Irish towns (0%). Across its 16 parks, O'Connell Street has 11 ha of green space. The town offers 1.6 ha of green space per 1,000 residents.
| Outdoors | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paths per km² of town | 8.1 km per km² | 5.4 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Woodland within 1 km | 0.6% | 2.3% | 2.7% |
| Sea within 5 km | 7% | 3.7% | 0% |
| Green space per 1,000 residents | 1.6 ha | 7.6 ha | 4.1 ha |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Rain peaks later in the week on Tuesday, at about 8 mm for the day. A typical November day reaches 11°C and drops to 5°C at night: the forecast for O'Connell Street is set against that. Some 1 mm of rain falls today, driven by wind of up to 25 km/h; the low reaches 10°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 3°C | 183 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 6°C | 156 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 12°C | 189 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 8°C | 220 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
57% of adults hold a degree. Children under 15 make up 14%, below Co. Dublin’s towns (17%) and Irish towns (20%) alike. Born abroad: 56% of residents.
47.0% of O'Connell Street’s residents are women
3,169 women and 3,580 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 51% | 30% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 18% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 4.7% | 14% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 7.2% | 8.5% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 7.5% | 11% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 23% | 30% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 5.1% | 5.2% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 57% | 44% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Dublin and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
There is no majority on Dublin City Council; Fine Gael have the most seats, 11 of 63, short of 32. General election turnout: 52%, below both Co. Dublin’s towns (57%) and Irish towns (59%). O'Connell Street sits in the North Inner City local electoral area, which elects 7 councillors.
| Turnout | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 34% | 42% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 52% | 57% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Homes from before 1919 make up 13.5% of the total. The Sites and Monuments Record lists 31 sites here, higher than both Co. Dublin’s towns (6) and Irish towns (11). O'Connell Street’s built heritage counts 465 inventory entries; 15 carry national or international standing.
| Heritage | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 689 | 9 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 13.5% | 1.2% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 31 | 6 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
The average household earns €57,780 a year before tax. 14% of workers worked mainly from home, near Co. Dublin’s towns (14%) and higher than Irish towns (11%). Workers spend 31.6 min getting to work, on average.
| Census 2022 | O'Connell Street | Co. Dublin | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 11% | 7.3% | 9.2% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 19% | 23% | 31% |
| Average trip | 31.6 min | 31.1 min | 27.6 min |
| Median household income | €57,780 | €72,780 | €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.
O'Connell Street’s built heritage counts 465 inventory entries; 15 carry national or international standing. 31 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie here.
One notable person was born in O'Connell Street; with them, the best known born in the towns around it.
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence: Lucas Cornelisz de Kock (1495-1552), Public domain · Harry Boland: Topical Press Agency / Stringer (Life time: Unknown), Public domain · Dunbar Barton: Leslie Ward, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O'Connell Street | 6,749 | — | C | C+ | D− | B |
| Temple Bar | 7,276 | 0.7 | D | C− | D− | B− |
| Parnell Square | 10,117 | 0.7 | C− | C+ | D− | B− |
| Summerhill | 11,911 | 0.9 | C− | B | D− | B− |
| Phibsborough | 11,657 | 1 | D | C− | D− | B− |
| St Stephen's Green | 5,319 | 1.2 | D | D | D− | C+ |
| Stoneybatter | 18,644 | 1.3 | C− | C | D− | C+ |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
O'Connell Street had 6,749 people at the 2022 census, up from 5,654 in 2016: 19.4% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in O'Connell Street is 33.3, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
9% of working residents drive to work and 78% walk, cycle or take the bus or train (the median of Irish towns: 23%).
Neighbourhood in Dublin
O'Connell Street has 6,749 people, in the area of Dublin City Council. TownRatings splits Dublin 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).