Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 1,116 residents, it is a town in Co. Kilkenny. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records 20 buildings here.
Crime is low (A): 2.7 burglaries and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, and 2.7 violent crimes. Prices are modest for what you get: a typical home sold for €262,500, or 4.8 years of the town’s median household income. Health is its weak spot (C) — bad health runs at 137 and disability at 113 per 100 expected for its ages. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work: on the way to work, 13% walk, cycle or take the bus or train, where the typical Irish town has 23%.
Figures: crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · health and commuting, CSO Census 2022. Ballyragget is graded subject by subject, but Irish towns need 2,500 residents for an overall grade.
Rents for this town aren't published on their own, so its Cost Grade uses the county's average rent. Health less sure: few enough residents report bad health that the town's figure could be well above or below its true level.
The 3 things Ballyragget does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Ballyragget with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
Ballyragget is graded subject by subject, but Irish towns need 2,500 residents for an overall grade.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
4 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
8% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ballyragget.
The graded crime recorded most in Ballyragget was assaults and harassment (2023–2025). Theft, shown but not graded, ran at 2.3 per 1,000 a year, below both Co. Kilkenny’s towns (5.9) and Irish towns (15.3).
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 | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 2.7 | 5.1 | 6.4 |
| All recorded crime | 16.8 | 43.7 | 54.3 |
| Violent crime | 2.7 | 5.2 | 5.7 |
| Theft | 2.3 | 5.9 | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
67% of households are owner-occupiers. Social housing holds 22% of households, above Co. Kilkenny’s towns (19%) and Irish towns (13%) alike.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €262,500 | 40 |
| Housing | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households renting privately | 9% | 19% | 22% |
| Households in social housing | 22% | 19% | 13% |
| Households owning their home | 67% | 60% | 61% |
| Median sale price | €263K | €289K | €350K |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Disability touches 27% of Ballyragget’s population. At the census, 86% of people in Ballyragget called their health good or very good, below Co. Kilkenny’s towns (88%) and Irish towns (88%) alike. Family carers: 6.2% of the people in Ballyragget look after someone without pay.
| Census 2022 | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 1.8% | 2% |
| With a disability | 27% | 23% | 22% |
| Unpaid carers | 6.2% | 5.2% | 5.4% |
| Good or very good health | 86% | 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 average trip to work takes 27.8 min. In work: 71% of residents aged 15 to 64, above Co. Kilkenny’s towns (68%) and Irish towns (68%) alike. At the census, nearly four in five commuters went by car.
| Census 2022 | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 6.7% | 10% | 9.2% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 71% | 68% | 68% |
| Average trip | 27.8 min | 23.8 min | 27.6 min |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 34% | 39% | 31% |
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.
One school lies within 3 km of Ballyragget. The one school within 3 km of Ballyragget has 163 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyragget National School Special classesLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 163 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +20% | +4% | +4% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 6% | 8% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 11% | 35% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
The ground under Ballyragget carries no high landslide susceptibility. 0.6% of homes stand low near a river, lower than Co. Kilkenny’s towns (3.1%) and near Irish towns (0.5%).
| Share of homes | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 84% | 0% |
| Low-lying near a river | 0.6% | 3.1% | 0.5% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Ballyragget’s year-round mean comes to 10.1°C. July afternoons reach 20.2°C here, about level with Co. Kilkenny’s towns (20.2°C) and above Irish towns (19.9°C). The coldest nights come in January, when Ballyragget averages a low of 2.2°C.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 2.2°C | 2.3°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.1°C | 10.2°C | 10.3°C |
| July high | 20.2°C | 20.2°C | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
100% of homes are within 400 m of green space, close to Co. Kilkenny’s towns (96%) and above Irish towns (92%). Green space in Ballyragget adds up to 4 ha, in one park. Among the protected sites near Ballyragget is River Barrow.
| Outdoors | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland within 1 km | 1.1% | 3.8% | 2.7% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.3 km per km² | 0.8 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Near a park | 100% | 96% | 92% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 3.1% | 2.4% | 1.8% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
In a typical November, days climb to about 11°C and nights sink to 4°C, the yardstick for Ballyragget’s forecast. It stays dry from start to finish today, with wind of 19 km/h or less and a low near 7°C. Between 6°C and 10°C: that is the range of daytime highs from here to the end of the week, with Thursday on top.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 2°C | 250 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 5°C | 185 mm |
| Summer | 20°C | 11°C | 213 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 7°C | 269 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Children under 15 make up 20%, about level with Irish towns (20%) and below Co. Kilkenny’s towns (24%). 10% of the people living here were born in another country. Graduates make up just over a fifth of adults.
51.1% of Ballyragget’s residents are women
570 women and 546 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 24% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 29% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 22% | 14% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 15% | 9.4% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 24% | 14% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 36% | 37% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 4.4% | 6.1% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 21% | 31% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Kilkenny and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Kilkenny County Council has no ruling majority: Fianna Fáil hold 11 of its 24 seats, short of the 13 needed. Ballyragget is run by Kilkenny County Council, its only council: Ireland has one tier of local government. It sits in the Castlecomer local electoral area, which elects 6 councillors.
| Turnout | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 53% | 50% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 58% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Its archaeology runs to 4 recorded sites. Nearly a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, higher than both Co. Kilkenny’s towns (4.5%) and Irish towns (3.4%). Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 20 buildings in Ballyragget, 1 of national or international importance.
| Heritage | Ballyragget | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 179 | 216 | 48 |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 4 | 84 | 11 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 8.3% | 4.5% | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
2 places to visit are mapped within 5 km of Ballyragget; with them, the best known within 40 km.
CastleFoulksrath Castle3.5 km outside town, to the south
CastleKilkenny Castle16 km south
MuseumDunmore Cave8.3 km southeast
CathedralSaint Marys Cathedral16 km south
CathedralSt Canice's Cathedral and Round Tower15 km south
CastleGardens at Castle Durrow8.1 km northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 20 buildings in Ballyragget, 1 of national or international importance. 4 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie here.
9 notable people were born in Ballyragget.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyragget | 1,116 | — | — | A− | A | C |
| Castlecomer | 1,496 | 8.1 | — | A | A | D |
| Abbeyleix Laois | 1,897 | 14 | — | A− | A+ | B+ |
| Kilkenny | 27,184 | 16 | B+ | B+ | C | B |
| Urlingford | 1,196 | 18 | — | A | A− | C+ |
| Rathdowney Laois | 1,368 | 19 | — | A | B− | C− |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Ballyragget had 1,116 people at the 2022 census, up from 1,064 in 2016: 4.9% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Ballyragget is 41.9, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
7% mostly work from home, and 34% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Urban area in Co. Kilkenny
1,116 people live in Ballyragget, 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) · 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).