Photo: Graham Horn · CC BY-SA 2.0Violent crime per resident is higher in Loughrea than in 69% of Irish towns
It places 23rd of the 40 Irish towns nearest in size, the least crime first. Add to that, the Safety Grade comes out at C, drawn from incidents the Gardaí recorded in the station areas where Loughrea’s residents live through 2023 to 2025: #10 of 20 in Co. Galway. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 28% from 2016 to 2025. Behind the grade sit 7.9 violent incidents and 5.0 incidents of burglary and damage per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 5.7 and 6.1 in the typical town its size.
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 Loughrea
Less recorded than in 2016
The Gardaí recorded 14.4 incidents of violence, burglary and damage per 1,000 of Loughrea’s residents in 2016 and 10.4 in 2025. Across Ireland the rate went from 12 to 11.6. Year by year ↓
Garda checks weigh heavily here
Dangerous driving, drugs, road traffic and offences against justice outweigh the rest in Loughrea’s station areas. They count Garda checks more than victims (a camera, a checkpoint, a festival), so they’re shown but not graded. By type ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Among the 40 Irish towns closest in size, Loughrea ranks 23rd, counting from the least graded crime: lower than Glasheen, Knocknaheeny and Ayrfield, higher than Castleknock, Fermoy and Rathcoole. Towns its size ↓
Close to the Irish rate
The station areas Loughrea’s residents live in record 12.9 incidents of violence, burglary and damage per 1,000 residents a year (2023–2025), against 11.9 across Ireland: within a fifth of 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.
What sits behind Loughrea’s C
How sure: The rate comes from Garda station areas, shared out by where residents live, not from crime inside the town’s own boundary.
The grade counts assaults and harassment, kidnapping, robbery, weapons offences, burglary and damage per resident, averaged over three years, and places the town among every Irish town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more (the five city totals aren’t in it).
Its place: #10 of 20 in Co. Galway and #169 of 320 Irish towns.
Violent crime, burglary and damage the Gardaí recorded per resident, 2023–2025, against Irish towns of 1,000 people or more.
Loughrea, year by year
Violent · per 1,000 residents
Burglary & damage · per 1,000 residents
Its highest year was 2017, at 18.3 per 1,000 residents, and its lowest 2025, at 10.4. Across Ireland the same rate went from 12 in 2016 to 11.6 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Violent | Burglary & damage | Graded | Ireland | All recorded crime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6.8 | 3.5 | 10.4 | 11.6 | 51.8 |
| 2024 | 9.2 | 6.2 | 15.4 | 12.1 | 59.3 |
| 2023 | 7.5 | 5.4 | 12.9 | 11.9 | 56.2 |
| 2022 | 8.9 | 6.3 | 15.2 | 11.6 | 50 |
| 2021 | 6.7 | 5 | 11.8 | 10.2 | 50.8 |
| 2020 | 9.4 | 6.7 | 16.1 | 10.6 | 59 |
| 2019 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 16.9 | 12.8 | 83.7 |
| 2018 | 8.2 | 5.7 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 74.6 |
| 2017 | 8.3 | 9.9 | 18.3 | 12.8 | 84.1 |
| 2016 | 6.3 | 8.1 | 14.4 | 12 | 73 |
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 Loughrea’s residents live, per 1,000 residents, against Ireland as a whole.
What was recorded, by type
Against the typical town its size, Loughrea runs highest on assaults and harassment (6.7 per 1,000 against 4.8). Damage to property and theft sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|
| Road and traffic offences | not graded | 17.3 | 9.3 |
| Assaults and harassment | Violent | 6.7 | 4.8 |
| Theft | not graded | 6.5 | 11.6 |
| Drug offences | not graded | 5.4 | 3.1 |
| Public order offences | not graded | 5.1 | 5 |
| Dangerous or negligent acts | not graded | 4.8 | 5.3 |
| Damage to property | Burglary & damage | 3.6 | 4.4 |
| Offences against justice | not graded | 3.4 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Burglary & damage | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| Weapons and explosives | Violent | 1 | 0.5 |
| Other offences | not graded | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Robbery, extortion and hijacking | Violent | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
About 8 in 1,000: recorded violent incidents a year
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 5 burglaries or acts of criminal damage, plus 7 thefts, a year (2023–2025 average). Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded incident.
Loughrea against towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Burglary & damage | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passage West-Monkstown Cork | 6,051 | 2.1 | 1.6 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Oranmore Galway | 5,819 | 4 | 3.9 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 20 | Castleknock Dublin | 6,355 | 4.7 | 6.9 | C+ |
| 21 | Fermoy Cork | 6,720 | 7.1 | 5.4 | C+ |
| 22 | Rathcoole Dublin | 5,792 | 5.3 | 7.5 | C+ |
| 23 | Loughrea Galway | 6,322 | 7.9 | 5 | C |
| 24 | Glasheen Cork | 5,981 | 7.3 | 5.8 | C |
| 25 | Knocknaheeny Cork | 5,592 | 6 | 7.5 | C |
| 26 | Ayrfield Dublin | 5,863 | 6.3 | 7.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 31 | Eyre Square Galway | 6,801 | 11.1 | 7.2 | C− |
| 32 | Ballinfoile and Terryland Galway | 5,851 | 11.1 | 7.2 | C− |
| 33 | Ballinasloe Galway | 6,597 | 9.5 | 9.1 | D |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Portobello Dublin | 5,732 | 39.5 | 31.1 | D− |
The 40 Irish towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500+ people closest in population; the city totals are left out. Graded crime: violent crime, burglary and damage.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, 2023 to 2025, counting from the least: towns ranked near Loughrea, and others in Co. Galway.
Crime in the places around Loughrea
| Town | People | Violent | Burglary & damage | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loughrea | 6,322 | 7.9 | 5 | C |
| Craughwell | 1,034 | 1.7 | 1.5 | A+ |
| Athenry | 4,603 | 3.5 | 3.2 | A− |
Loughrea records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Craughwell, 11.1 km away, records 1.7 recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Loughrea’s 7.9.
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 Loughrea 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 Loughrea
Is Loughrea safe?
The Gardaí recorded about 7.9 violent incidents and 5 burglaries or acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year in the station areas Loughrea’s residents live in, averaged over 2023–2025. That earns a C for safety: more crime per resident than 66% of Irish towns.
What is the most common crime in Loughrea?
Road and traffic offences: about 109 a year (2023–2025 average). Next came assaults and harassment (42) and theft (41). That is mostly Garda enforcement (road checks and the like), not crime against residents, and it isn’t graded.
Is crime going up in Loughrea?
The recorded rate in the graded categories fell 28% from 2016 to 2025: 14.4 per 1,000 residents in 2016, 10.4 in 2025. The grade uses the three-year average, so one unusual year moves it less.
How does Loughrea compare with Ireland as a whole?
The station areas Loughrea’s residents live in record 12.9 incidents of violence, burglary and damage per 1,000 residents a year (2023–2025). Across Ireland the figure is 11.9.
Is Loughrea safer than the towns around it?
2 of the 2 neighbouring towns with figures record less violence, burglary and damage per resident than Loughrea (12.9 per 1,000 a year). The lowest is Craughwell, at 3.1.
How sure is Loughrea’s Safety Grade?
The rate comes from Garda station areas, shared out by where residents live, not from crime inside the town’s own boundary.
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 · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. 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).