Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This town in Co. Galway has a population of 2,870.
Good on most counts; one lags. Its standout strength is cost of living: half the homes sold for more than €240,000, a price of 5.3 times what the median household earns. At A overall, Gort ranks #44 of 320 Irish towns. On that grade it does better than 87% of Irish towns. People here tend to be in good health: bad health runs at 82 and disability at 101 per 100 expected for its ages. The catch is jobs & income: just over two thirds of people aged 15 to 64 are in work, and unemployment is 11%. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety and B− for walkability.
Figures: prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · health, work and commuting, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025.
The 3 things Gort does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Gort 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 →
16 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
5% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Gort.
A flood relief scheme, the Gort River (Bridge Street) Drainage Scheme, protects parts of Gort. No part of Gort is mapped as high landslide susceptibility. Under 1% of homes here are estimated to have radon above the reference level.
| Share of homes | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 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.
Social housing holds nearly one in ten households, lower than both Co. Galway’s towns (10%) and Irish towns (13%). Home ownership stands at 52% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €239,000 | 176 |
| The last 12 months | €320,000 | 56 |
| Housing | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €240K | €373K | €350K |
| Households renting privately | 38% | 35% | 22% |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,264 | €1,368 | €1,606 |
| Households in social housing | 9% | 10% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Just over a third of people in the HSE West and North West health region hold a medical card. Among the 40 Irish towns closest to its size, Gort ranks 3rd on the Health Grade. Weighed against its ages, disability here runs at 101 per 100 expected. At the census, 1.4% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, lower than both Co. Galway’s towns (1.9%) and Irish towns (2%).
| Census 2022 | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 1.4% | 1.9% | 2% |
| Unpaid carers | 4.8% | 5.1% | 5.4% |
| With a disability | 21% | 23% | 22% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
The commute to work averages 27.6 min. By car: that was how 75% of commuters travelled at the census.
| Census 2022 | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | €45,192 | €55,250 | €57,760 |
| Unemployment rate | 11% | 9.4% | 9.2% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 39% | 37% | 31% |
| Average trip | 27.6 min | 23.5 min | 27.6 min |
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.
Gort Community School is the nearest secondary school, 0.7 km away. Families in the town have 5 schools within 3 km to choose from: 4 primary schools and 1 secondary school. Since 2019/20, pupils changed +15%, above both Co. Galway’s towns (+2%) and Irish towns (+4%).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gort National School DEISLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 197 | Catholic |
| Gort Community SchoolLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Community school | Post-primary · Community school | 1,043 | Inter-denominational |
| Gaelscoil na bhFili GaelscoilTeaches through IrishPrimary | Primary | 41 | Multi-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 33% | 39% |
| Teach through Irish | 20% | 14% | 8% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +15% | +2% | +4% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 20% | 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.
A January night in Gort drops to 2.7°C on average, lower than both Co. Galway’s towns (3.0°C) and Irish towns (2.9°C). A year brings 1,215 mm of rain to Gort. December is the wettest month here, with 138 mm of rain on average.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 19.5°C | 19.2°C | 19.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,215 mm | 1,265 mm | 937 mm |
| January low | 2.7°C | 3.0°C | 2.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
For 76% of homes, green space is under 400 m away. Woodland covers 4.3% of the land within 1 km, above both Co. Galway’s towns (1.7%) and Irish towns (2.7%). One park, 6 ha of green space: that is the measure of Gort’s parkland.
| Outdoors | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected nature within 5 km | 24% | 14% | 1.8% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.2 km per km² | 2.3 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Woodland within 1 km | 4.3% | 1.7% | 2.7% |
| Near a park | 76% | 81% | 92% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Between 7°C and 11°C: that is the range of daytime highs from here to the end of the week, with Thursday on top. What counts as normal for Gort in November: highs come to 11°C and lows to 5°C. The rain holds off today, but the wind gets up to 21 km/h, and the low is 4°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 3°C | 364 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 5°C | 234 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 11°C | 274 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 7°C | 344 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
People aged 15 to 24 make up 11% of the town, below Co. Galway’s towns (15%) and Irish towns (12%) alike. Foreign-born residents make up 35% of the population. Under-15s account for 21% of the population.
50.8% of Gort’s residents are women
1,457 women and 1,413 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 16% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 15% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 31% | 31% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 21% | 24% |
| 65+ | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 13% | 7.3% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 15% | 10% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 39% | 28% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 5.5% | 5.4% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 27% | 49% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Galway and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
General election turnout: 62%, above both Co. Galway’s towns (58%) and Irish towns (59%). No party holds a majority on Galway County Council: Fine Gael lead with 13 of 39 seats, short of the 20 needed. There is just one council for Gort, Galway County Council: Ireland has only one tier of local government.
| Turnout | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 52% | 45% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 62% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Homes from before 1919 make up 4.9% of the total, higher than both Co. Galway’s towns (0.9%) and Irish towns (3.4%). There are 16 entries on the national archaeological record here. 54 of Gort’s buildings made the national inventory of architectural heritage, all at regional importance.
| Heritage | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 188 | 15 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 4.9% | 0.9% | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
In all, 48.5 crimes per 1,000 residents were recorded a year, below both Co. Galway’s towns (89.5) and Irish towns (54.3). Violence comes to 4.4 per 1,000 residents a year. What’s more, each year, 5.8 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded per 1,000 residents.
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 | Gort | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 4.4 | 9.5 | 5.7 |
| All recorded crime | 48.5 | 89.5 | 54.3 |
| Theft | 7 | 18.5 | 15.3 |
| Burglary & damage | 5.8 | 7.2 | 6.4 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Gort. Best known first.
Abbey or priory · Office of Public WorksKilmacduagh monastery4.4 km outside town, to the west
MuseumThoor Ballylee3.8 km outside town, to the northeast
CastleKiltartan Castle1.3 km outside town, to the northCastleCastleLough Cutra Castle3.1 km outside town, to the southGardenGardenCoole Park Visitor Centre & Gardens1.7 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumKiltartan Gregory Museum2 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
54 of Gort’s buildings made the national inventory of architectural heritage, all at regional importance. The national record lists 16 archaeological sites in and around the town.
14 notable people were born in Gort.
Gort had 2,870 people at the 2022 census, up from 2,732 in 2016: 5.1% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Gort is 38, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 21% of residents are under 15 and 12% are 65 or over.
8% mostly work from home, and 39% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Urban area in Co. Galway
Gort has 2,870 people, 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).