Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
25 of its buildings are on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. A town in Co. Laois, home to 1,404 people.
Cost of living is its strong suit (A−): home prices sit at a median €280,000, which is 5.3 years of the town’s median household income. Health outcomes fall short of most towns: 210 residents in bad health and 116 with a disability for every 100 its ages predict. Jobs and pay trail most towns: 62% of people aged 15 to 64 are in work, and unemployment is 11%. Getting around depends on the car (C−): on the way to work, 10% walk, cycle or take the bus or train, where the typical Irish town has 23%.
Figures: prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · health, work and commuting, CSO Census 2022. Stradbally 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 Stradbally does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Stradbally with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
Stradbally is graded subject by subject, but Irish towns need 2,500 residents for an overall grade.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
The record adds 1 archaeological site.
Homes built before 1919: 12%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Stradbally.
83% of Stradbally’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below Co. Laois’ towns (87%) and Irish towns (88%) alike. A disability affects 27% of people in the town. Unpaid caring falls to 6.4% of the town’s residents.
| Census 2022 | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 2.4% | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 83% | 87% | 88% |
| Unpaid carers | 6.4% | 5.2% | 5.4% |
| With a disability | 27% | 25% | 22% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
The car carried just over four in five commuters at the census. Just over a tenth of the labour force were unemployed, below Co. Laois’ towns (12%) but above Irish towns (9.2%). At the census, 7.6% of workers worked mainly from home.
| Census 2022 | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In work, 15 to 64 | 62% | 63% | 68% |
| Unemployment rate | 11% | 12% | 9.2% |
| Average trip | 30 min | 30.4 min | 27.6 min |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 34% | 37% | 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.
20% live in social housing, above both Co. Laois’ towns (16%) and Irish towns (13%). Owners make up nearly two thirds of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €265,000 | 58 |
| Housing | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households in social housing | 20% | 16% | 13% |
| Households renting privately | 13% | 19% | 22% |
| Median sale price | €280K | €251K | €350K |
| Households owning their home | 65% | 63% | 61% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
100% of its homes sit in high-radon areas, higher than both Co. Laois’ towns (0%) and Irish towns (0%). Landslides: none of Stradbally lies in a high-susceptibility zone. Only a handful of its homes, if any, sit low beside water.
| Share of homes | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Low-lying near a river | 0% | 0% | 0.5% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Families in Stradbally have 2 schools within 3 km to choose from: 2 primary schools.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Coleman's National School Special classesLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 318 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +24% | +10% | +4% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 15% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 0% | 8% |
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.
Taken over the whole year, the average temperature in Stradbally is 9.9°C. January nights bottom out at 2.0°C in the town, near Co. Laois’ towns (2.0°C) and lower than Irish towns (2.9°C). October is the wettest month in the town, with 98 mm of rain on average.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 2.0°C | 2.0°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 9.9°C | 9.9°C | 10.3°C |
| July high | 20.1°C | 20.1°C | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Among the protected sites near Stradbally is River Barrow. Walkers have 0.6 km per km² of paths and tracks, close to Co. Laois’ towns (0.6 km per km²) and below Irish towns (2.1 km per km²). 7 waymarked trails and greenways start within 5 km.
| Outdoors | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland within 1 km | 14% | 2.5% | 2.7% |
| Near a park | 65% | 71% | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.6 km per km² | 0.6 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
A dry day with a stiff breeze lies ahead today: wind building to 20 km/h, then a low of 4°C. For warmth, Thursday is the pick of the days ahead at 11°C; the chilliest afternoon gets to just 7°C. December follows with normal highs of 8°C and lows of 2°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 8°C | 2°C | 252 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 5°C | 188 mm |
| Summer | 20°C | 11°C | 210 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 6°C | 265 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Nearly a tenth of the people living here were born in another country. Children under 15 make up 15%, below both Co. Laois’ towns (23%) and Irish towns (20%). Graduates make up 19% of adults.
Women make up 52.8% of Stradbally
741 women and 663 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 23% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 29% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 21% | 10% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 17% | 11% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 21% | 17% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 39% | 41% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 4.9% | 6.3% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 19% | 23% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Laois and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Just over half of voters turned out at the last local elections, about level with Co. Laois’ towns (51%) and above Irish towns (46%). Stradbally answers to one council, Laois County Council; Ireland has no town tier. Laois County Council has no ruling majority: Fianna Fáil hold 6 of its 19 seats, short of the 10 needed.
| Turnout | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 51% | 51% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 58% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Homes from before 1919 make up 11.8% of the total, above Co. Laois’ towns (5.1%) and Irish towns (3.4%) alike. 1 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie in and around the town. Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 25 buildings in Stradbally, each of regional importance. Archaeologists have recorded one site here.
| Heritage | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 178 | 79 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 11.8% | 5.1% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 1 | 14 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
The graded crime recorded most in Stradbally was assaults and harassment (2023–2025). Violence comes to 4.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Homes saw 5.2 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, near Co. Laois’ towns (5.4) and lower than Irish towns (6.4).
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 | Stradbally | Co. Laois | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| All recorded crime | 119.3 | 41.2 | 54.3 |
| Violent crime | 4.5 | 6 | 5.7 |
| Burglary & damage | 5.2 | 5.4 | 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 Stradbally. Best known first.
CastleRock of Dunamase3.7 km outside town, to the west
Heritage railwayStradbally Woodland Railway100 m outside town, to the westGardenGardenBallintubbert Gardens & House4.4 km outside town, to the southeastHistoric houseHistoric houseStradbally Hall and Demesne400 m outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionBallykilcavan Brewing Company1.2 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 25 buildings in Stradbally, each of regional importance. Archaeologists have recorded one site here.
No notable person born in Stradbally is on our list; these were born in the towns around it.
Robert Sheehan: Luigi Novi, CC BY 4.0 · Willoughby James Hamilton: Robinson (Photographer), Public domain · Charles Flanagan: Department of Children and Youth Affairs, CC BY 2.0 · George Lyttleton Rogers: Unknown (Bassano Ltd), Public domain · James Jeffrey Roche: uncredited, Public domain
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stradbally | 1,404 | — | — | A− | B− | D |
| Ballylinan | 1,167 | 10 | — | A− | B+ | C |
| Portlaoise | 23,494 | 11 | C− | B+ | D | C− |
| Athy Kildare | 11,035 | 11 | C− | A | C | D |
| Monasterevin Kildare | 5,307 | 15 | B+ | A− | B | C |
| Portarlington | 9,288 | 16 | C | A | C+ | D |
| Mountmellick | 4,905 | 17 | C+ | A | B− | D− |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
8% mostly work from home, and 34% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Stradbally had 1,404 people at the 2022 census, up from 1,327 in 2016: 5.8% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Stradbally is 43.4, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Laois
1,404 people live in Stradbally, in the area of Laois 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).