Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 1,907 people, this town lies in Co. Offaly.
Homes are affordable: it takes 3.5 years of the median household income to buy the median home, at €165,000. Health is another plus (B+). Its weakest subject is jobs & income — among 15 to 64s, 63% are in work; unemployment stands at 13%. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for safety and B for walkability.
Figures: prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · health, work and commuting, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025. Irish towns get an overall grade from 2,500 residents, so Banagher has subject grades only.
Health less sure: few enough residents report bad health that the town's figure could be well above or below its true level. 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 Banagher does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Banagher 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 →
12 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
10% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Banagher.
Private renters make up 19% of households, below both Co. Offaly’s towns (23%) and Irish towns (22%). The social rented sector houses 16% of households. Households that own their home make up 62%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €165,000 | 75 |
| Housing | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €165K | €233K | €350K |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €924 | €1,187 | €1,606 |
| Households renting privately | 19% | 23% | 22% |
| Households in social housing | 16% | 17% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Under 1% of homes in Banagher are estimated to have radon above the reference level. The ground under Banagher carries no high landslide susceptibility. Low ground by water holds almost none of its homes.
| Share of homes | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0% | 0% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
5.9% of workers worked mainly from home, lower than both Co. Offaly’s towns (6.6%) and Irish towns (11%). The unemployment rate comes to 13%. Driving is how just over three quarters of commuters got to work at the census.
| Census 2022 | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trips under 15 minutes | 51% | 50% | 31% |
| Unemployment rate | 13% | 12% | 9.2% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 63% | 62% | 68% |
| Median household income | €46,585 | €50,278 | €57,760 |
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.
Allowing for its ages, Banagher has 99 residents with a disability per 100 expected, lower than both Co. Offaly’s towns (116) and Irish towns (106). At the census, 2.3% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. 22% of residents in Banagher live with a disability.
| Census 2022 | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 2.3% | 2.8% | 2% |
| With a disability | 22% | 25% | 22% |
| Good or very good health | 87% | 86% | 88% |
| Unpaid carers | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.4% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Taken over the whole year, the average temperature in Banagher is 10.0°C. January nights bottom out at 2.2°C here, higher than Co. Offaly’s towns (2.1°C) yet lower than Irish towns (2.9°C). November is the wettest month here, with 92 mm of rain on average.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 2.2°C | 2.1°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.0°C | 9.9°C | 10.3°C |
| Rain a year | 894 mm | 899 mm | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Among the protected sites near Banagher is Middle Shannon Callows SPA. Woodland covers 2.9% of the land within 1 km, below Co. Offaly’s towns (8.7%) but above Irish towns (2.7%). Within 400 m of green space: just over three in five homes.
| Outdoors | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected nature within 5 km | 24% | 4.5% | 1.8% |
| Near a park | 61% | 78% | 92% |
| Woodland within 1 km | 2.9% | 8.7% | 2.7% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.2 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 typical November day reaches 11°C and drops to 4°C at night: the forecast for Banagher is set against that. No rain is due today, though a breeze picks up to 23 km/h; the low is 7°C. The heaviest rain of the week is due on Tuesday, around 6 mm.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 2°C | 243 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 5°C | 181 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 11°C | 220 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 7°C | 250 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Children under 15 make up 17% of residents. Daily Irish speakers outside school: 0.4%, close to Co. Offaly’s towns (0.8%) and below Irish towns (1.1%). One measure of its mix: 18% of residents were born abroad.
49.1% of Banagher’s residents are women
937 women and 970 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 21% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 28% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 11% | 15% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 40% | 38% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 5.3% | 6.3% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 23% | 22% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Offaly and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
No party holds a majority on Offaly County Council: Fianna Fáil lead with 8 of 19 seats, short of the 10 needed. Banagher answers to one council, Offaly County Council; Ireland has no town tier. In the Dáil, Banagher is part of Offaly, which elects 3 TDs.
| Turnout | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 54% | 50% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 60% | 60% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
One in ten homes date from before 1919. 12 archaeological sites are on the record, above Co. Offaly’s towns (5) and Irish towns (11) alike. Banagher’s built heritage counts 31 inventory entries, each of regional standing.
| Heritage | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 163 | 119 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 9.8% | 6.5% | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
For its size, Banagher records more crime per resident than 78% of the 156 Irish towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people. In all, 32.4 crimes per 1,000 residents were recorded a year, lower than both Co. Offaly’s towns (51.7) and Irish towns (54.3). Burglary and damage add up to 4.1 per 1,000 residents each year. Among the graded crimes here, the most frequent 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 | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 4.1 | 6.8 | 6.4 |
| All recorded crime | 32.4 | 51.7 | 54.3 |
| Theft | 4.2 | 9.7 | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Families in Banagher have 3 schools within 3 km to choose from: 2 primary schools and 1 secondary school. The nearest secondary, Banagher College, is 0.5 km away.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Rynaghs N.S.Largest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 249 | Catholic |
| Banagher CollegeLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 556 | Multi-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Banagher | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 71% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 11% | 8% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 0% | 39% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | −3% | −1% | +4% |
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.
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Banagher. Best known first.
Banagher’s built heritage counts 31 inventory entries, each of regional standing. 12 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie here.
31 notable people were born in Banagher.
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
Banagher had 1,907 people at the 2022 census, up from 1,813 in 2016: 5.2% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Banagher is 41.1, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
6% mostly work from home, and 51% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Urban area in Co. Offaly
1,907 people live in Banagher, in the area of Offaly 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).