Photo: jwd · CC BY-SA 2.0Safety in Oldtown: figures, but no grade
Against Ireland as a whole (11.9 per 1,000 residents a year), violence, burglary and damage run at 7.6 here. Add to that, recorded violent incidents ran at 3.4 per 1,000 residents a year and burglary and damage at 4.2, against 3.6 and 3.7 in the typical town its size. Safety Grades start at 1,000 residents, and Oldtown has fewer: in a place this small, a few incidents move the rate a long way.
Incidents per 1,000 residents (Census 2022) a year, 2023–2025 average, in the Garda station areas residents live in. Homicide and sexual offences aren’t published by station, so no figure here includes them.
What stands out about safety in Oldtown
Below the Irish rate
The station areas Oldtown’s residents live in record 7.6 incidents of violence, burglary and damage per 1,000 residents a year (2023–2025), against 11.9 across Ireland: 36% below the national rate. Safety Grade ↓
Written from CSO’s recorded crime by Garda station (CJA11) and Census 2022. Figures are incidents the Gardaí recorded, not convictions.
Why Oldtown has no Safety Grade
Oldtown has fewer than 1,000 residents, and Safety is graded only from 1,000, where a handful of incidents no longer moves the rate a long way.
The figures below are still Oldtown’s own: what the Gardaí recorded in its station areas.
Crime in Oldtown per 1,000 residents
Violence per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025
Burglary & damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 4 burglaries or acts of criminal damage, plus 5 thefts, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded incident.
What was recorded in Oldtown, year by year
Violent · per 1,000 residents
Burglary & damage · per 1,000 residents
Its highest year was 2022, at 13.3 per 1,000 residents, and its lowest 2020, at 4.2. Across Ireland the same rate went from 12 in 2016 to 11.6 in 2025. At about 4 graded incidents a year, a few cases move these figures a long way.
Every year as a table
| Year | Violent | Burglary & damage | Graded | Ireland | All recorded crime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.3 | 4.9 | 8.2 | 11.6 | 26.7 |
| 2024 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 8 | 12.1 | 23.3 |
| 2023 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 6.7 | 11.9 | 25.1 |
| 2022 | 5.1 | 8.2 | 13.3 | 11.6 | 22.7 |
| 2021 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 17.3 |
| 2020 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 10.6 | 15.3 |
| 2019 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 7.8 | 12.8 | 16.2 |
| 2018 | 0.7 | 4.9 | 5.6 | 12.4 | 15.1 |
| 2017 | 1.8 | 6 | 7.8 | 12.8 | 15.8 |
| 2016 | 0.7 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 12 | 14.4 |
CSO CJA11, recorded crime incidents by Garda station, 2016–2025, shared to the town by where its residents live. Every year is divided by the residents counted in 2022, so the line moves with recorded crime, not with population. CSO publishes recorded crime “under reservation”, its flag on the quality of Garda recording.
Violence, burglary and damage the Gardaí recorded each year in the station areas where Oldtown’s residents live, per 1,000 residents, against Ireland as a whole.
What was recorded, by type
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theft | not graded | 4.6 | 3.8 |
| Offences against justice | not graded | 4.2 | 0.7 |
| Road and traffic offences | not graded | 4.1 | 5.4 |
| Assaults and harassment | Violent | 2.7 | 3.2 |
| Damage to property | Burglary & damage | 2.6 | 2.4 |
| Dangerous or negligent acts | not graded | 2.1 | 4.5 |
| Burglary | Burglary & damage | 1.6 | 1.3 |
| Public order offences | not graded | 1.3 | 2.1 |
| Drug offences | not graded | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Robbery, extortion and hijacking | Violent | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Weapons and explosives | Violent | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Other offences | not graded | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Kidnapping | Violent | 0 | 0 |
The groups are CSO’s. Dangerous or negligent acts, drug offences, road and traffic offences and offences against justice count Garda checks more than victims; they, theft, public order and other offences are shown but not graded. Homicide and sexual offences aren’t published by station; fraud is left out.
Per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among Irish towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people.
The nearest Irish towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Away | Violent | Burglary & damage | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donabate | 12 km | 4.5 | 4.9 | B− |
| Hollystown | 12 km | 5.1 | 7.3 | C+ |
| Stamullen | 13 km | 6.3 | 7 | C |
| Balbriggan | 13 km | 8.9 | 8 | C− |
| Dubber | 13 km | 8.2 | 10.4 | D |
Straight-line distance from the centre of Oldtown. Towns nearby can differ a lot from Oldtown.
Each town’s own station-area figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Crime in the places around Oldtown
| Town | People | Violent | Burglary & damage | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oldtown | 523 | 3.4 | 4.2 | — |
| Ashbourne | 15,680 | 3.7 | 4.2 | B+ |
| Swords | 40,776 | 4.5 | 4.8 | B− |
| Ratoath | 10,077 | 3.7 | 4.2 | B+ |
| Lusk | 8,806 | 4.6 | 4.4 | B |
| Balrothery | 2,282 | 8.9 | 8 | C− |
| Kinsealy-Drinan | 7,526 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A− |
Oldtown records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 6 neighbours. Kinsealy-Drinan, 11.4 km away, records 2.8 recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Oldtown’s 3.4.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three-year average. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Station areas, not the town’s boundary. Crime is published by Garda station. Each station’s incidents are divided by the people living in its area (Census 2022), and Oldtown takes the rates of the areas its residents live in, weighted by how many live in each.
- Checks are shown, not graded. Road traffic, dangerous driving, drug and justice offences mostly record Garda activity: one rural station can book thousands of camera detections. The grade leaves them out, with theft and public order, and counts violence, burglary and damage.
- Each year, and one average. CSO publishes crime by station once a year. The chart follows every year since 2016; the grade averages 2023, 2024 and 2025, because a small station area’s count swings from year to year. There are no months.
- No streets. No street- or ward-level crime is published in Ireland: the finest grain is the Garda station area.
Questions about safety in Oldtown
Is Oldtown safe?
The Gardaí recorded about 3.4 violent incidents and 4.2 burglaries or acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year in the station areas Oldtown’s residents live in, averaged over 2023–2025.
What is the most common crime in Oldtown?
Theft: about 2 a year (2023–2025 average). Next came offences against justice (2) and road and traffic offences (2).
Is crime going up in Oldtown?
The recorded rate in the graded categories rose 61% from 2016 to 2025: 5.1 per 1,000 residents in 2016, 8.2 in 2025. In a town this size a few dozen cases move the figure, so the grade uses the three-year average.
How does Oldtown compare with Ireland as a whole?
The station areas Oldtown’s residents live in record 7.6 incidents of violence, burglary and damage per 1,000 residents a year (2023–2025). Across Ireland the figure is 11.9.
Is Oldtown safer than the towns around it?
1 of the 6 neighbouring towns with figures record less violence, burglary and damage per resident than Oldtown (7.6 per 1,000 a year). The lowest is Kinsealy-Drinan, at 6.6.
Source: CSO, Recorded crime incidents by Garda station (CJA11), 2023–2025, and Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: CSO, Recorded crime incidents by Garda station (CJA11), 2023–2025 · CSO, Census 2022 Small Areas and the 2011 Garda sub-districts. 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).