Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 184 people, lies in Co. Kilkenny.
A median €322,900 buys a home here, 6 years of what the median household earns. Nearly a quarter of residents 15 and over hold a degree. It skews older: 19% of residents are 65 or over.
Ballyhale isn’t graded: grades for Irish towns begin at 1,000 residents.
The 3 things Ballyhale does most differently from other towns.
5 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
18% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ballyhale.
Landslides: none of Ballyhale lies in a high-susceptibility zone. Hardly any of its homes sit low beside water.
| Share of homes | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 84% | 0% |
| Low-lying near a river | 0% | 3.1% | 0.5% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Midsummer afternoons in Ballyhale peak at about 20.3°C. January nights bottom out at 2.4°C here, near Co. Kilkenny’s towns (2.3°C) and lower than Irish towns (2.9°C). Also worth knowing: the town gets 1,001 mm of rain a year.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 20.3°C | 20.2°C | 19.9°C |
| January low | 2.4°C | 2.3°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,001 mm | 906 mm | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Ages taken into account, Ballyhale counts 186 people in poor health for every 100 predicted. At the census, 29% of people here had a disability, higher than both Co. Kilkenny’s towns (23%) and Irish towns (22%). 3.3% of residents report bad or very bad health.
| Census 2022 | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 3.3% | 1.8% | 2% |
| With a disability | 29% | 23% | 22% |
| Unpaid carers | 6.5% | 5.2% | 5.4% |
| Good or very good health | 85% | 88% | 88% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
The owner-occupied share of households is 55%. Private renters make up 18% of households, lower than both Co. Kilkenny’s towns (19%) and Irish towns (22%).
| Housing | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households in social housing | 25% | 19% | 13% |
| Households owning their home | 55% | 60% | 61% |
| Households renting privately | 18% | 19% | 22% |
| Median sale price | €323K | €289K | €350K |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure · The price is for the postcode area R95, not the town alone: too few sales inside the town carry a full address.
Walkers have 0.2 km per km² of paths and tracks, below Co. Kilkenny’s towns (0.8 km per km²) and Irish towns (2.1 km per km²) alike. Protected nature near Ballyhale includes River Barrow. The town offers 17.4 ha of green space per 1,000 residents.
| Outdoors | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland within 1 km | 6.3% | 3.8% | 2.7% |
| Green space per 1,000 residents | 17.4 ha | 3.5 ha | 4.1 ha |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.2 km per km² | 0.8 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Near a park | 100% | 96% | 92% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Long-term averages for Ballyhale put November days at 11°C and November nights at 4°C. Expect a dry, calm day today: wind no stronger than 13 km/h, and 6°C at the coldest. Little rain is due later in the week: 5 of the next 6 days stay dry.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 2°C | 281 mm |
| Spring | 14°C | 5°C | 207 mm |
| Summer | 20°C | 11°C | 216 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 7°C | 297 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
47% of trips took under 15 minutes, above Co. Kilkenny’s towns (39%) and Irish towns (31%) alike. At the census, 84% of commuters went by car. The census found 74% of 15- to 64-year-olds in work.
| Census 2022 | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 6.2% | 10% | 9.2% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 47% | 39% | 31% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 74% | 68% | 68% |
| Average trip | 23.5 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.
Foreign-born residents make up 13% of the population. Children under 15 make up 26%, above Co. Kilkenny’s towns (24%) and Irish towns (20%) alike. Among adults, 23% have a degree.
53.8% of Ballyhale’s residents are women
99 women and 85 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 26% | 24% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 6.5% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 34% | 29% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 15% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 13% | 9.4% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 14% | 14% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 47% | 37% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 3.4% | 6.1% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 23% | 31% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Kilkenny and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
There is no majority on Kilkenny County Council; Fianna Fáil have the most seats, 11 of 24, short of 13. Ballyhale is run by Kilkenny County Council, its only council: Ireland has one tier of local government. It sits in the Callan-Thomastown local electoral area, which elects 6 councillors.
| Turnout | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 54% | 50% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 58% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
The ground here holds 5 recorded archaeological sites. Homes from before 1919 make up 18.2% of the total, above Co. Kilkenny’s towns (4.5%) and Irish towns (3.4%) alike. Ballyhale’s built heritage counts 9 inventory entries, each of regional standing.
| Heritage | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 489 | 216 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 18.2% | 4.5% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 5 | 84 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
The nearest secondary, Scoil Aireagail, is 1.4 km away. 2 schools lie within 3 km of Ballyhale: 1 primary school and 1 secondary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Naomh Padraig MxdLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 173 | Catholic |
| Scoil AireagailLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 204 | Inter-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Ballyhale | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 56% | 39% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 6% | 8% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 11% | 35% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +1% | +4% | +4% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Ireland publishes no school-by-school results, which is why these cards have no letters.
2 places to visit are mapped within 5 km of Ballyhale; with them, the best known within 40 km.
Abbey or priory · Office of Public WorksJerpoint Abbey5.6 km northeast
CastleKilkenny Castle20 km north
Castle · Office of Public WorksOrmond Castle20 km southwest
CathedralSaint Marys Cathedral21 km north
CathedralCathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, Waterford24 km southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Ballyhale’s built heritage counts 9 inventory entries, each of regional standing. 5 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie here.
15 notable people were born in Ballyhale.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyhale | 184 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Thomastown | 2,305 | 7.8 | — | B | B+ | C− |
| Callan | 2,678 | 15 | A+ | A− | A | B |
| Piltown | 1,275 | 16 | — | A− | B+ | B |
| Graiguenamanagh-Tinnahinch | 1,506 | 18 | — | A | A+ | C |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
The median age in Ballyhale is 36.5, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
10% mostly work from home, and 47% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Ballyhale had 184 people at the 2022 census, up from 182 in 2016: 1.1% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Kilkenny
184 people live in Ballyhale, in the area of Kilkenny 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).