Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Co. Galway, home to 4,603 people.
One weak subject stands out against an otherwise good record. Jobs & income is its strong suit — 72% of people aged 15 to 64 are in work, and unemployment is 7%. Crime is low: violent crime runs at 3.5 per 1,000 residents a year, burglary and criminal damage at 3.2. Hazards are a real consideration: an estimated 30% of its homes exceed the radon reference level. Prices run to a median €353,500, 5.8 times local household income. It is hard to get around without a car: on the way to work, 14% walk, cycle or take the bus or train, where the typical Irish town has 23%. The overall grade comes out at A−, #69 of 320 Irish towns. Set against the rest, it does better than 79% of Irish towns.
Figures: work and commuting, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · radon, EPA · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO.
The 2 things Athenry does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Athenry 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 35 buildings on the National Inventory in Athenry, one of them of national importance.
117 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
3% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Athenry.
Families in Athenry have 5 schools within 3 km to choose from: 2 primary schools and 3 secondary schools. 40% of the schools teach through Irish, above both Co. Galway’s towns (14%) and Irish towns (8%). Coláiste an Eachréidh is the nearest secondary school, 0.4 km away.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athenry Primary School Special classesLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 501 | Catholic |
| Clárin CollegeLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 1,140 | Multi-denominational |
| Coláiste an Eachréidh GaelcholáisteTeaches through IrishPost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 234 | Multi-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teach through Irish | 40% | 14% | 8% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +20% | +2% | +4% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 33% | 39% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 29% | 35% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
100% of its homes sit in high-radon areas, close to Co. Galway’s towns (100%) and above Irish towns (0%). The ground under Athenry carries no high landslide susceptibility. Few of its homes stand low beside water.
| Share of homes | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 100% | 100% | 0% |
| Low-lying near a river | 0% | 5% | 0.5% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
7.2% of the labour force were unemployed, below Co. Galway’s towns (9.7%) and Irish towns (9.2%) alike. Workers spend 25 min getting to work, on average. Home was the main workplace for one in ten workers at the census.
| Census 2022 | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 7.2% | 9.7% | 9.2% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 72% | 68% | 68% |
| Average trip | 25 min | 23.5 min | 27.6 min |
| Median household income | €60,705 | €53,360 | €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.
Every kind together came to 32.7 per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Co. Galway’s towns (89.5) and Irish towns (54.3). Among the 201 Irish towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Athenry has less crime per resident than 85% of them. The graded crime recorded most here was assaults and harassment (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 | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 3.2 | 7.2 | 6.4 |
| All recorded crime | 32.7 | 89.5 | 54.3 |
| Violent crime | 3.5 | 9.5 | 5.7 |
| Theft | 5.5 | 18.5 | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Allowing for its ages, Athenry has 104 residents in bad health per 100 expected, below Co. Galway’s towns (116) and Irish towns (113) alike. Just over a fifth of residents in Athenry live with a disability. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 1.6% of the town.
| Census 2022 | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 90% | 88% | 88% |
| With a disability | 21% | 23% | 22% |
| Bad or very bad health | 1.6% | 1.9% | 2% |
| Unpaid carers | 5.5% | 4.9% | 5.4% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Here July highs average 19.2°C, about level with Co. Galway’s towns (19.3°C) and below Irish towns (19.9°C). Athenry gets 1,225 mm of rain a year. Day and night, summer and winter, Athenry averages 10.0°C.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 19.2°C | 19.3°C | 19.9°C |
| January low | 2.4°C | 3.0°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.0°C | 10.3°C | 10.3°C |
| Rain a year | 1,225 mm | 1,265 mm | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Walkers have 1.2 km per km² of paths and tracks, below both Co. Galway’s towns (2.3 km per km²) and Irish towns (2.1 km per km²). Green space lies within 400 m of 79% of homes. Athenry offers 1.3 ha of green space per 1,000 residents.
| Outdoors | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected nature within 5 km | 0% | 15% | 1.8% |
| Sea within 5 km | 0% | 21% | 0% |
| Near a park | 79% | 81% | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 1.2 km per km² | 2.3 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
People 65 and over make up just over a tenth of the town, below both Co. Galway’s towns (13%) and Irish towns (14%). The share aged 15 to 24 is 11%. Graduates make up 44% of adults.
52.5% of Athenry’s residents are women
2,415 women and 2,188 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 25% | 16% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 15% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 31% | 31% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 22% | 21% | 24% |
| 65+ | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 7.6% | 7.3% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 10% | 10% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 33% | 28% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 6% | 5.4% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 44% | 49% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Galway and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
One council serves Athenry: Galway County Council. Turnout at the general election came to 62%. There is no majority on Galway County Council; Fine Gael have the most seats, 13 of 39, short of 20.
| Turnout | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 53% | 45% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 62% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Per 10,000 residents, Athenry counts 76 inventory buildings, above both Co. Galway’s towns (15) and Irish towns (48). Homes from before 1919 make up 3.4% of the total. 35 of Athenry’s buildings made the national inventory of architectural heritage, all at regional importance.
| Heritage | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 76 | 15 | 48 |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 117 | 17 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
27% rent privately, below Co. Galway’s towns (36%) but above Irish towns (22%). A buyer in Athenry paid 110% more for a typical home in 2025 than in 2010: €389K against €185K. Home ownership stands at 62% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €389,000 | 123 |
| Second-hand homes | €310,000 | 229 |
| The last 12 months | €390,000 | 99 |
| Housing | Athenry | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households renting privately | 27% | 36% | 22% |
| Households owning their home | 62% | 52% | 61% |
| Households in social housing | 10% | 10% | 13% |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,404 | €1,307 | €1,606 |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Athenry. Best known first.
CastleAthenry Castlein town
Abbey or prioryAthenry Prioryin townMuseumMuseumAthenry Arts and Heritage Centrein townMuseumMuseumHeritage Centerin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
35 of Athenry’s buildings made the national inventory of architectural heritage, all at regional importance. The national record lists 117 archaeological sites in and around the town.
11 notable people were born in Athenry.
Lydia Gurley: Nicola, CC BY-SA 4.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athenry | 4,603 | — | A− | B− | A− | B |
| Craughwell | 1,034 | 8.3 | — | C− | A+ | A |
| Oranmore | 5,819 | 13 | A− | C | B+ | A |
| Baile Chláir | 1,632 | 13 | — | C− | A+ | A+ |
| Ballybane | 15,082 | 16 | C+ | B | C+ | C+ |
| Loughrea | 6,322 | 17 | B | A− | C | B− |
| Murrough | 2,909 | 17 | C+ | C+ | C− | B+ |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Athenry had 4,603 people at the 2022 census, up from 4,367 in 2016: 5.4% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Athenry is 36.8, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 25% of residents are under 15 and 11% are 65 or over.
Urban area in Co. Galway
4,603 people live in Athenry, in the area of Galway 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).