Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
868 residents make their home in this town in Co. Galway. It grew by 15% between the 2016 and 2022 censuses.
A typical home sold for €372,600, or 5.4 years of the town’s median household income. The car is not the only way to work here: nearly one in ten commuters walk, cycle or use public transport. Outside school, 17% of residents speak Irish every day. A degree is held by 57% of adults.
At under 1,000 residents, Na Forbacha is too small for the grades Irish towns get.
The 3 things Na Forbacha does most differently from other towns.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Na Forbacha.
Since 2019/20, pupils changed +1%, below both Co. Galway’s towns (+2%) and Irish towns (+4%). Within 3 km of Na Forbacha there are 2 schools (2 primary schools).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| S N na bhForbacha Gaeltacht schoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 229 | Catholic |
| S N Seamus Naofa Gaeltacht schoolTeaches through IrishPrimary | Primary | 221 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teach through Irish | 100% | 15% | 8% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 27% | 35% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +1% | +2% | +4% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · These schools carry no letter or result: Ireland doesn’t release them school by school.
Radon: 28% of homes are in high-radon areas, between Co. Galway’s towns (100%) and Irish towns (0%). The nearest bathing water to Na Forbacha is Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha, 1 km away, rated good in 2025. The ground under Na Forbacha carries no high landslide susceptibility.
| Share of homes | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 28% | 100% | 0% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0% | 0% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
January nights bottom out at 3.4°C in Na Forbacha, above Co. Galway’s towns (3.0°C) and Irish towns (2.9°C) alike. Taken over the whole year, the average temperature here is 10.5°C. The town gets 1,381 mm of rain a year.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 18.9°C | 19.3°C | 19.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,381 mm | 1,261 mm | 937 mm |
| January low | 3.4°C | 3.0°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.5°C | 10.3°C | 10.3°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Unpaid caring falls to 6.5% of Na Forbacha’s residents. Allowing for its ages, Na Forbacha has 36 residents in bad health per 100 expected, lower than both Co. Galway’s towns (110) and Irish towns (113). Self-reported good health: 94% of the town’s residents. In the HSE West and North West health region, just over a third of people hold a medical card.
| Census 2022 | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 94% | 88% | 88% |
| With a disability | 15% | 22% | 22% |
| Bad or very bad health | 0.7% | 1.9% | 2% |
| Unpaid carers | 6.5% | 5% | 5.4% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Private renters make up 19% of households.
| Housing | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households owning their home | 79% | 52% | 61% |
| Households in social housing | 0% | 10% | 13% |
| Households renting privately | 19% | 36% | 22% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure · The price is for the postcode area H91, not the town alone: too few sales inside the town carry a full address.
A short walk to green space: nearly two thirds of homes, below Co. Galway’s towns (80%) and Irish towns (92%) alike. Within 5 km, 45% is sea, above Co. Galway’s towns (21%) and Irish towns (0%) alike.
| Outdoors | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected nature within 5 km | 40% | 14% | 1.8% |
| Sea within 5 km | 45% | 21% | 0% |
| Near a park | 66% | 80% | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.6 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
74% of 15 to 64s were in work, higher than both Co. Galway’s towns (68%) and Irish towns (68%). At the census, 9% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train. Unemployment stands at 5.6%.
| Census 2022 | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 5.6% | 9.6% | 9.2% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 74% | 68% | 68% |
| Median household income | €68,460 | €54,305 | €57,760 |
| Average trip | 28.3 min | 23.8 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.
Young adults of 15 to 24 account for just over a tenth of the town. 16% of residents are 65 or over, higher than both Co. Galway’s towns (12%) and Irish towns (14%). Under 15: 19% of residents.
50.1% of Na Forbacha’s residents are women
435 women and 433 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 14% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 31% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 22% | 24% |
| 65+ | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 2.4% | 7.4% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 10% | 10% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 23% | 29% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 7.3% | 5.5% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 57% | 47% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Galway and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Galway County Council is the one council for Na Forbacha; Ireland has no town or county councils between it and the government. This Co. Galway town sits in the Conamara South local electoral area, which elects 5 councillors.
| Turnout | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 68% | 45% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 58% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
For its size, Na Forbacha has 23 inventory buildings per 10,000 residents, lower than both Co. Galway’s towns (33) and Irish towns (48). 1.2% of homes were built before 1919.
| Heritage | Na Forbacha | Co. Galway | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 23 | 33 | 48 |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 0 | 19 | 11 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 1.2% | 1.7% | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
One place to visit is mapped within 5 km of Na Forbacha; with it, the best known within 40 km.
CathedralGalway Cathedral11 km east
MuseumGalway City Museum11 km east · 162K visitors a year (2011)
National parkBurren National Park30 km southeast
CastleAughnanure Castle19 km north
AttractionAillwee Cave19 km southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Na Forbacha’s built heritage counts 2 inventory entries, each of regional standing.
No notable person born in Na Forbacha is on our list; these were born in the towns around it.
Séamus Brennan: Flickr user "Justsplit.com", CC BY 2.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Na Forbacha | 868 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bearna | 2,336 | 3.7 | — | D | A | A+ |
| Knocknacarra | 18,398 | 7 | B+ | D | A | A− |
| Salthill | 5,445 | 9 | A | D | A | A |
| Rahoon | 3,486 | 9.1 | C+ | D | B | B− |
| Taylor's Hill | 3,141 | 9.2 | C− | D | B | C |
| Maigh Cuilinn | 2,279 | 9.7 | — | C | A+ | A− |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
17.2% of residents speak Irish every day outside school, against 1.1% in the median of Irish towns; 67% can speak it.
Na Forbacha had 868 people at the 2022 census, up from 752 in 2016: 15.4% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Na Forbacha is 41.9, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Galway
Na Forbacha has 868 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). 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).