Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,224 in Co. Limerick. Between 2016 and 2022, its population grew by 10%.
Adare’s best grade is for jobs & income — 75% of working-age residents are employed, with an unemployment rate of 6%. Police record less crime here than in most towns: gardaí record 2.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, and 3.9 burglaries and acts of criminal damage. Buying in is costly (D): buying the median home, at €510,000, takes 7.3 times the town’s median household income. Natural hazards weigh more here: an estimated 3% of homes are above the radon reference level.
Figures: work, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · radon, EPA. An overall grade comes at 2,500 residents for Irish towns; Adare has its subject grades alone.
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 Adare does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Adare with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
An overall grade comes at 2,500 residents for Irish towns; Adare has its subject grades alone.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
The register holds 61 buildings on the National Inventory in Adare, one of them of national importance.
5 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
9% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Adare.
Workers spend 25 min getting to work, on average. 5.9% of the labour force were unemployed, below Co. Limerick’s towns (11%) and Irish towns (9.2%) alike. A household here earns €69,620 a year before tax, on average.
| Census 2022 | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In work, 15 to 64 | 75% | 61% | 68% |
| Unemployment rate | 5.9% | 11% | 9.2% |
| Median household income | €69,620 | €50,710 | €57,760 |
| Average trip | 25 min | 23 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.
21% rent privately, below Co. Limerick’s towns (27%) and close to Irish towns (22%). Social renters account for 11% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €505,500 | 82 |
| Housing | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €510K | €312K | €350K |
| Households owning their home | 65% | 59% | 61% |
| Households renting privately | 21% | 27% | 22% |
| Households in social housing | 11% | 13% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Theft, shown but not graded, ran at 4.1 per 1,000 a year, lower than both Co. Limerick’s towns (28.8) and Irish towns (15.3). Every year, 40.5 crimes are recorded per 1,000 residents. Of the graded crimes in Adare, burglary came up most often (2023–2025).
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 | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 3.9 | 11.2 | 6.4 |
| Violent crime | 2.1 | 9.7 | 5.7 |
| Theft | 4.1 | 28.8 | 15.3 |
| All recorded crime | 40.5 | 97.5 | 54.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
22% of residents have a disability, lower than Co. Limerick’s towns (25%) and near Irish towns (22%). Weighed against its ages, disability in Adare runs at 93 per 100 expected. Family carers: 6.5% of the people in Adare look after someone without pay.
| Census 2022 | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid carers | 6.5% | 5.5% | 5.4% |
| Bad or very bad health | 1.9% | 2.9% | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 89% | 86% | 88% |
| With a disability | 22% | 25% | 22% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
About 3.5% of homes in Adare are estimated to pass the radon reference level. The ground under Adare carries no high landslide susceptibility.
| Share of homes | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 28% | 9.3% | 0.5% |
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 0% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
4 schools lie within 3 km of Adare: 4 primary schools.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoil Naomh Iosaf BoysLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 140 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils since 2019/20 | −13% | +3% | +4% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 46% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 12% | 8% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Letters and results are missing here for a reason: Ireland publishes neither school by school.
The year’s mean temperature is 10.6°C, about level with Co. Limerick’s towns (10.5°C) and above Irish towns (10.3°C). January nights in Adare drop to 3.1°C on average. The town is 0.2°C warmer over the year than in 1981–2010.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average temperature over the year | 10.6°C | 10.5°C | 10.3°C |
| January low | 3.1°C | 2.9°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 979 mm | 1,034 mm | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Green space lies within 400 m of 86% of homes. Adare has one park, with 59 ha of green space in all. Protected nature near Adare includes Lower River Shannon SAC. Within 1 km, 12% of the land is woodland, higher than both Co. Limerick’s towns (1.5%) and Irish towns (2.7%).
| Outdoors | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green space per 1,000 residents | 48.2 ha | 4.7 ha | 4.1 ha |
| Woodland within 1 km | 12% | 1.5% | 2.7% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.4 km per km² | 2.5 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 1.3% | 9.6% | 1.8% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Plan indoor things for Tuesday, when about 7 mm of rain is forecast. In a typical November, days climb to about 11°C and nights sink to 5°C, the yardstick for Adare’s forecast. No rain is due today, though a breeze picks up to 21 km/h; the low is 5°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 3°C | 287 mm |
| Spring | 14°C | 6°C | 195 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 11°C | 224 mm |
| Autumn | 15°C | 8°C | 273 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24, below Co. Limerick’s towns (13%) and Irish towns (12%) alike. Over-65s are a fifth of the population. Among adults, 45% have a degree.
50.9% of Adare’s residents are women
623 women and 601 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 9.3% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 31% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 23% | 24% |
| 65+ | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 6.1% | 11% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 13% | 16% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 29% | 35% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 7.7% | 5.6% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 45% | 31% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Limerick and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Limerick City and County Council is led by a mayor its voters elect: John Moran (Independent), elected on 7 June 2024. Turnout at the last local elections was 52%. No party holds a majority on Limerick City and County Council: Fine Gael lead with 13 of 40 seats, short of the 21 needed.
| Turnout | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| General election, November 2024 | 61% | 55% | 59% |
| Local elections, June 2024 | 52% | 48% | 46% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Homes from before 1919 make up nearly a tenth of the total, above Co. Limerick’s towns (3.8%) and Irish towns (3.4%) alike. Archaeologists have recorded 5 sites here. Adare has 61 buildings on the national inventory of architectural heritage, 1 of them rated of national or international importance.
| Heritage | Adare | Co. Limerick | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 498 | 15 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 8.6% | 3.8% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 5 | 10 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Adare. Best known first.
Castle · Office of Public WorksDesmond Castle Adare500 m outside town, to the northeast
Abbey or prioryAugustinian Abbey Adare200 m outside town, to the northeast
Abbey or prioryDysert Aenghusa4.7 km outside town, to the southeastHistoric houseHistoric houseKilgobbin House2.8 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Adare has 61 buildings on the national inventory of architectural heritage, 1 of them rated of national or international importance. 5 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie here.
6 notable people were born in Adare.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adare | 1,224 | — | — | D | A | A |
| Croom | 1,240 | 7 | — | C− | A | B− |
| Rathkeale | 1,231 | 11 | — | B− | B− | D− |
| Dooradoyle | 18,593 | 12 | C+ | C | D | B+ |
| Askeaton | 1,236 | 13 | — | B | B− | D |
| Ballinacurra | 3,719 | 14 | C | C | D | B− |
| Dock | 6,258 | 15 | D | C | D | C− |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Adare had 1,224 people at the 2022 census, up from 1,117 in 2016: 9.6% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Adare is 42.9, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 19% of residents are under 15 and 20% are 65 or over.
12% mostly work from home, and 34% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Urban area in Co. Limerick
1,224 people live in Adare, in the area of Limerick City and 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).