Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 7,155: a town in Co. Meath. It has 17 buildings on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
A well-rated place to live, with prices to match. Where it does best is health (A+): bad health runs at 57 and disability at 83 per 100 expected for its ages. Overall, Dunboyne earns an A+, which places it #6 of 320 Irish towns. Set against the rest, it does better than 98% of Irish towns. Households here earn well (A−): the unemployment rate is 5%, with 70% of 15 to 64s in work. Housing is expensive: the median sale, €450,000, comes to 5.1 times what the median household here earns.
Figures: health and work, CSO Census 2022 · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO.
The 3 things Dunboyne does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Dunboyne with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
The record adds 11 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 1%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Dunboyne.
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 0.9% of the town. Among the 40 Irish towns closest to its size, Dunboyne ranks 2nd on the Health Grade. At the census, 93% of people in Dunboyne called their health good or very good, above both Co. Meath’s towns (90%) and Irish towns (88%). A disability affects 17% of people in the town.
| Census 2022 | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 93% | 90% | 88% |
| Bad or very bad health | 0.9% | 1.7% | 2% |
| With a disability | 17% | 20% | 22% |
| Unpaid carers | 5.7% | 4.6% | 5.4% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Dunboyne is protected by the River Tolka (Clonee and Dunboyne) Scheme. No part of Dunboyne is mapped as high landslide susceptibility. By estimate, fewer than one home in a hundred here has radon above the reference level.
| Share of homes | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 0% | 0% | 0.5% |
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 0% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
DEIS, the support scheme, covers 7% of them, between Co. Meath’s towns (0%) and Irish towns (35%). St Peter's College is the nearest secondary school, 0.3 km away. Within 3 km of Dunboyne there are 14 schools (10 primary schools and 4 secondary schools).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Benedicts National SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 622 | Catholic |
| St Peter's CollegeLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 1,214 | Inter-denominational |
| Gaelscoil Thulach na nÓg GaelscoilTeaches through IrishPrimary | Primary | 360 | Inter-denominational |
| Castaheany Educate Together NS DEISIn the DEIS schemePrimary | Primary | 362 | Multi-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 0% | 39% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 7% | 0% | 35% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | −0% | +5% | +4% |
| Teach through Irish | 7% | 9% | 8% |
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.
Of those in the labour force, 5.4% are unemployed. 16% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, between Co. Meath’s towns (15%) and Irish towns (23%). Getting to work takes 31.4 min on average.
| Census 2022 | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | €88,852 | €69,166 | €57,760 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.4% | 7.9% | 9.2% |
| Average trip | 31.4 min | 32.9 min | 27.6 min |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 70% | 70% | 68% |
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.
Burglary and damage came to 4.1 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Co. Meath’s towns (4.3) and Irish towns (6.4). Per 1,000 residents, 3 violent crimes are recorded each year. The commonest graded crime in Dunboyne was assaults and harassment (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 | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 3 | 3.7 | 5.7 |
| Burglary & damage | 4.1 | 4.3 | 6.4 |
| Theft | 8.8 | 10 | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
In 2010 the typical home in Dunboyne sold for €335K; by 2025 it was €500K, 49% more. Owners make up 77% of households, close to Co. Meath’s towns (74%) and above Irish towns (61%). Also worth knowing: only one of the 12 towns in Co. Meath costs more to buy into than Dunboyne, whose median sale is €450,000. 14% of households are private tenants.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €500,000 | 76 |
| Second-hand homes | €430,000 | 205 |
| The last 12 months | €582,500 | 108 |
| Housing | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €450K | €375K | €350K |
| Households owning their home | 77% | 74% | 61% |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,895 | €1,539 | €1,606 |
| Households in social housing | 8% | 9% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
On a January night, the temperature in Dunboyne falls to about 2.1°C. Across the year it averages 9.9°C, near Co. Meath’s towns (9.9°C) and lower than Irish towns (10.3°C). A year brings 835 mm of rain to Dunboyne.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 2.1°C | 2.0°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 9.9°C | 9.9°C | 10.3°C |
| Rain a year | 835 mm | 855 mm | 937 mm |
| July high | 20.0°C | 19.9°C | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
100% of homes are within 400 m of green space. One park, 16 ha of green space: that is the measure of Dunboyne’s parkland. Within 1 km, 2.5% of the land is woodland, higher than Co. Meath’s towns (0.9%) yet lower than Irish towns (2.7%).
| Outdoors | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 100% | 92% | 92% |
| Woodland within 1 km | 2.5% | 0.9% | 2.7% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 0.4% | 1.1% | 1.8% |
| Paths per km² of town | 2.2 km per km² | 1.3 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Expect roughly 1 mm of rain today, wind picking up to 24 km/h, and a low of 8°C. Tuesday stands out as the wet day ahead, with roughly 5 mm. For Dunboyne, a normal November afternoon peaks at 11°C, and a normal night bottoms out at 4°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 8°C | 2°C | 208 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 5°C | 173 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 11°C | 209 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 7°C | 244 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Foreign-born residents make up 18% of the population. Children under 15 make up 21%, lower than Co. Meath’s towns (24%) and near Irish towns (20%). Over-65s are a tenth of the population.
Women make up 50.1% of Dunboyne
3,587 women and 3,568 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 24% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 28% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 25% | 24% |
| 65+ | 9.8% | 8.9% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 6.3% | 7.9% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 33% | 38% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 7.5% | 7% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 42% | 35% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Meath and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Dunboyne answers to one council, Meath County Council; Ireland has no town tier. No party holds a majority on Meath County Council: Independent lead with 11 of 40 seats, short of the 21 needed. It sits in the Ratoath local electoral area, which elects 7 councillors.
| Turnout | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| General election, November 2024 | 60% | 60% | 59% |
| Local elections, June 2024 | 47% | 47% | 46% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Scaled to its population, that is 24 inventory buildings for every 10,000 people in Dunboyne. Homes built before 1919 account for 1.1% of the housing. The archaeological record lists 11 sites here.
| Heritage | Dunboyne | Co. Meath | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 24 | 29 | 48 |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 11 | 26 | 11 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 1.1% | 1.6% | 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 Dunboyne; with them, the best known within 40 km.
CathedralSt Patrick's Cathedral16 km southeast
Big drawZooDublin Zoo13 km southeast · 1.3M visitors a year (2022)
Big drawMuseumNational Museum of Ireland17 km southeast · 783K visitors a year
MuseumNational Library of Ireland17 km southeast
Museum · Office of Public WorksKilmainham Gaol14 km southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 17 buildings in Dunboyne, each of regional importance. Archaeologists have recorded 11 sites here.
8 notable people were born in Dunboyne.
John Bruton: Friends of Europe, CC BY 2.0 · Niall Quinn: TheChrisD, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seán Boylan: Ollieollieollie1996, CC BY-SA 4.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunboyne | 7,155 | — | A+ | C | B+ | A+ |
| Clonee | 1,205 | 2.2 | — | C+ | B+ | B− |
| Ongar Dublin | 13,390 | 3.2 | A− | B | C+ | A |
| Clonsilla Dublin | 22,510 | 4.1 | B− | C− | C+ | A− |
| Mulhuddart Dublin | 19,252 | 5.5 | B− | B | C+ | C |
| Leixlip Kildare | 16,733 | 5.8 | A | C | B+ | A− |
| Hollystown Dublin | 12,884 | 5.9 | B | C− | C+ | A |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Dunboyne had 7,155 people at the 2022 census, up from 6,751 in 2016: 6% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Dunboyne is 36.6, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Meath
7,155 people live in Dunboyne, in the area of Meath 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).