Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 3,926 residents, it is a town in Co. Monaghan. The population grew 9% between 2016 and 2022.
Where it falls short is jobs & income — nearly two thirds of working-age residents are employed, with an unemployment rate of 13%. Taken together, its subjects give Castleblayney a C+ overall, better than just over two fifths of Irish towns. Its place in the ranking is #188 of 320 Irish towns. Homes are affordable: the median home sold for €230,000, 5.7 times the town’s median household income.
Figures: prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · work, CSO Census 2022.
This town's Hazard risk Grade uses radon and landslides only: open LiDAR heights don't cover enough of its homes to measure flooding, so flood isn't counted for or against it.
The 3 things Castleblayney does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Castleblayney 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 4 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 7%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Castleblayney.
The average trip to work takes 24.6 min. In work: 65% of residents aged 15 to 64, below Irish towns (68%). The census counted 5.4% of workers working mainly from home.
| Census 2022 | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trips under 15 minutes | 48% | – | 31% |
| Unemployment rate | 13% | – | 9.2% |
| Median household income | €40,671 | – | €57,760 |
| Average trip | 24.6 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.
Owners make up 48% of households, below Irish towns (61%). 28% of households rent privately.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €212,000 | 182 |
| The last 12 months | €250,000 | 57 |
| Housing | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households in social housing | 23% | – | 13% |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,064 | – | €1,606 |
| Median sale price | €230K | – | €350K |
| Households owning their home | 48% | – | 61% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Some 14% of homes in Castleblayney are estimated to exceed the radon reference level. Landslides: none of Castleblayney lies in a high-susceptibility zone. Low ground by water holds almost none of its homes.
| Share of homes | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 89% | – | 0% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0% | – | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Our Lady's Secondary School is the nearest secondary school, 0.5 km away. DEIS, the support scheme, covers 44% of them, higher than Irish towns (35%). Within 3 km of Castleblayney there are 9 schools (6 primary schools, 2 secondary schools and 1 special school).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castleblayney Convent Infants National School DEISLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 197 | Catholic |
| Our Lady's Secondary SchoolLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Voluntary secondary | Post-primary · Voluntary secondary | 883 | Catholic |
| Gaelscoil Lorgan GaelscoilTeaches through IrishPrimary | Primary | 159 | Inter-denominational |
| Castleblayney College DEISIn the DEIS schemePost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 434 | Multi-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +25% | – | +4% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | – | 39% |
| Teach through Irish | 11% | – | 8% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 44% | – | 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.
86% of people in Castleblayney rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 2.6% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above Irish towns (2%). Unpaid caring falls to 4.7% of the town’s residents.
| Census 2022 | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 2.6% | – | 2% |
| Unpaid carers | 4.7% | – | 5.4% |
| Good or very good health | 86% | – | 88% |
| With a disability | 23% | – | 22% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
July afternoons reach 19.2°C here, below Irish towns (19.9°C). Castleblayney’s year-round mean comes to 9.2°C. A year brings 1,045 mm of rain to Castleblayney.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 1.4°C | – | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 9.2°C | – | 10.3°C |
| July high | 19.2°C | – | 19.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,045 mm | – | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Green space in Castleblayney adds up to 8 ha, in one park. Walkers have 1.0 km per km² of paths and tracks, below Irish towns (2.1 km per km²). Every 1,000 residents of Castleblayney share 1.9 ha of green space.
| Outdoors | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 67% | – | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 1.0 km per km² | – | 2.1 km per km² |
| Woodland within 1 km | 3.8% | – | 2.7% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 0% | – | 1.8% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
The coming days top out somewhere between 6°C and 10°C; Thursday looks warmest. Castleblayney’s forecast, set beside its normal weather: in November a typical day reaches 10°C, and nights drop to 3°C. It stays dry from start to finish today, with wind of 19 km/h or less and a low near 6°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 8°C | 1°C | 292 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 4°C | 217 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 10°C | 249 mm |
| Autumn | 13°C | 6°C | 288 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
People 65 and over make up 16% of the town, higher than Irish towns (14%). Degrees are held by 23% of adults. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for just over a tenth of the town.
Women make up 50.7% of Castleblayney
1,991 women and 1,935 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 22% | – | 20% |
| 15–24 | 11% | – | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | – | 29% |
| 45–64 | 23% | – | 24% |
| 65+ | 16% | – | 14% |
| Primary or none | 16% | – | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 18% | – | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 38% | – | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 5.8% | – | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 23% | – | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Monaghan and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
General election turnout: 64%, above Irish towns (59%). Monaghan County Council is the one council for Castleblayney; Ireland has no town or county councils between it and the government. Sinn Féin lead Monaghan County Council with 8 of 18 seats, but no party has a majority: 10 are needed.
| Turnout | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| General election, November 2024 | 64% | – | 59% |
| Local elections, June 2024 | 55% | – | 46% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Homes from before 1919 make up 6.5% of the total, higher than Irish towns (3.4%). 4 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie in and around the town. The national inventory of architectural heritage lists 75 buildings in Castleblayney, each rated of regional importance.
| Heritage | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 191 | – | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 6.5% | – | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 4 | – | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Assaults and harassment topped the graded crimes in Castleblayney (2023–2025). All told, 40.5 crimes per 1,000 residents are recorded each year. Theft, shown but not graded, ran at 3.2 per 1,000 a year, below 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 | Castleblayney | Co. Monaghan | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theft | 3.2 | – | 15.3 |
| All recorded crime | 40.5 | – | 54.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Nothing to visit is mapped within 5 km of Castleblayney; these are the best known within 40 km.
CathedralSt Macartan's Cathedral, Monaghan20 km northwest
CastleCastle Leslie25 km northwest
Castle · Office of Public WorksCarlingford Castle37 km east
CastleCastle Roche18 km southeast
CastleCabra Castle22 km south
CastleArdee Castle32 km southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The national inventory of architectural heritage lists 75 buildings in Castleblayney, each rated of regional importance. 4 archaeological sites are on the record here.
7 notable people were born in Castleblayney.
James McMahon Graham: Harris & Ewing, Public domain · Robert Harrison Smith: Unknown author Unknown author, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castleblayney | 3,926 | — | C+ | A− | C+ | C+ |
| Ballybay | 1,329 | 10 | — | A+ | B | B− |
| Carrickmacross | 5,745 | 16 | B | B+ | C+ | B+ |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Castleblayney had 3,926 people at the 2022 census, up from 3,597 in 2016: 9.1% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Castleblayney is 38, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 22% of residents are under 15 and 16% are 65 or over.
Urban area in Co. Monaghan
Castleblayney has 3,926 people, in the area of Monaghan 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).