Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1,347 residents make their home in this town in Co. Waterford. The population grew 10% between 2016 and 2022.
Where it does best is hazard risk: almost no homes are above the radon reference level. Fewer journeys need a car: 17% of commuters walk, cycle or take the bus or train, against 23% in the typical Irish town. It takes 5.1 years of the median household income to buy the median home, at €231,500. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B for safety, C+ for health and B− for jobs & income.
Figures: radon, EPA · commuting, health and work, CSO Census 2022 · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025. Irish towns get an overall grade from 2,500 residents, so Lismore has subject grades only.
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 Lismore does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Lismore with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
Irish towns get an overall grade from 2,500 residents, so Lismore has subject grades only.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
25 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
29% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Lismore Township, Minnesota, is named after Lismore.
Lismore Township, Minnesota, takes its name from this village.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lismore.
0.9% of homes stand on ground with high landslide susceptibility, above Co. Waterford’s towns (0.2%) and Irish towns (0%) alike. Under 1% of homes in Lismore are estimated to have radon above the reference level. Next to none of its homes lie low beside a river or the sea.
| Share of homes | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 69% | 0% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0.9% | 0.2% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
A fifth of households rent from a council or housing body. Private renters make up 16% of households, near Co. Waterford’s towns (16%) and lower than Irish towns (22%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €215,000 | 79 |
| Housing | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €232K | €294K | €350K |
| Households in social housing | 20% | 19% | 13% |
| Households renting privately | 16% | 16% | 22% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Violence came to 3.4 per 1,000 residents a year, below Co. Waterford’s towns (10.6) and Irish towns (5.7) alike. Recorded crime of every kind runs at 20.3 per 1,000 residents a year. In 2023–2025, damage to property led the graded crimes in Lismore.
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 | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| All recorded crime | 20.3 | 85 | 54.3 |
| Violent crime | 3.4 | 10.6 | 5.7 |
| Burglary & damage | 4.8 | 9.7 | 6.4 |
| Theft | 2.8 | 22 | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
Summer highs in Lismore reach 20.2°C in July. January nights bottom out at 2.8°C locally, below Co. Waterford’s towns (3.4°C) and close to Irish towns (2.9°C). Taken over the whole year, the average temperature here is 10.5°C.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain a year | 1,147 mm | 1,022 mm | 937 mm |
| January low | 2.8°C | 3.4°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.5°C | 10.8°C | 10.3°C |
| July high | 20.2°C | 20.2°C | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
A short walk to green space: just over four in five homes, close to Co. Waterford’s towns (80%) and below Irish towns (92%). Among the protected sites near Lismore is Blackwater River (Cork/Waterford) SAC. This Co. Waterford town has 5 parks, with 10 ha of green space in all.
| Outdoors | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland within 1 km | 9.1% | 1% | 2.7% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 9.1% | 5.5% | 1.8% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.4 km per km² | 1.1 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Near a park | 82% | 80% | 92% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Expect roughly 5 mm of rain tomorrow, little wind (up to 13 km/h) and a low of 5°C. The heaviest rain of the week is due on Wednesday, around 9 mm. Judged by the averages, Lismore sees November days reach 11°C and nights fall to 5°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 3°C | 331 mm |
| Spring | 14°C | 5°C | 243 mm |
| Summer | 20°C | 11°C | 245 mm |
| Autumn | 15°C | 7°C | 328 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
17% of residents are 65 or over, above both Co. Waterford’s towns (16%) and Irish towns (14%). Aged 15 to 24: just over one in ten residents. Degrees are held by 28% of adults.
50.3% of Lismore’s residents are women
677 women and 670 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 19% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 28% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 24% |
| 65+ | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 11% | 12% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 16% | 18% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 38% | 36% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 6.8% | 6% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 28% | 29% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Waterford and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
At the general election, 56% of voters took part. With 8 of 32 seats, Independent are the largest group on Waterford City and County Council, short of the 17 a majority needs. Lismore is run by Waterford City and County Council, its only council: Ireland has one tier of local government.
| Turnout | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 52% | 48% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 56% | 56% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
The Sites and Monuments Record holds 25 entries for the town. 29% of its homes were built before 1919, above Co. Waterford’s towns (2.6%) and Irish towns (3.4%) alike. Lismore has 198 buildings on the national inventory of architectural heritage, 7 of them rated of national or international importance.
| Heritage | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 1,470 | 34 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 29% | 2.6% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 25 | 10 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Family carers: 6.9% of the people in Lismore look after someone without pay. 27% of residents have a disability, above both Co. Waterford’s towns (24%) and Irish towns (22%). Weighed against its ages, bad health here runs at 99 per 100 expected.
| Census 2022 | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid carers | 6.9% | 5.6% | 5.4% |
| With a disability | 27% | 24% | 22% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2% | 2.4% | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 88% | 87% | 88% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
On average, the journey to work lasts 25.1 min. 7.7% of the labour force were unemployed, lower than both Co. Waterford’s towns (11%) and Irish towns (9.2%). Working from home was the norm for 8.4% of workers at the census.
| Census 2022 | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trips under 15 minutes | 51% | 47% | 31% |
| Unemployment rate | 7.7% | 11% | 9.2% |
| Average trip | 25.1 min | 20.4 min | 27.6 min |
| Median household income | €45,520 | €48,421 | €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.
For secondary school, the closest is Blackwater Community School, 0.5 km from the town. Within 3 km of Lismore there are 3 schools (2 primary schools and 1 secondary school).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bunscoil Bhothar na Naomh Special classesLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 284 | Catholic |
| Blackwater Community SchoolLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · Community school | Post-primary · Community school | 943 | Inter-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Lismore | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 56% | 39% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 41% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 6% | 8% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +13% | +4% | +4% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · No letters, no results: Irish schools aren’t ranked one by one.
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Lismore. Best known first.
CathedralSt Carthage's Cathedral Lismorein town
CastleLismore Castle100 m outside town, to the northGardenGardenLismore Castle Gardensin townMuseumMuseumLismore Heritage Centrein townAbbey or prioryAbbey or priorySt. Mary's Abbey, Glencairn4.3 km outside town, to the westCastleCastleBallysaggartmore Towers2 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Lismore has 198 buildings on the national inventory of architectural heritage, 7 of them rated of national or international importance. The national record lists 25 archaeological sites in and around the town.
16 notable people were born in Lismore.
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
Lismore had 1,347 people at the 2022 census, up from 1,227 in 2016: 9.8% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Lismore is 41.3, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
73% of working residents drive to work and 17% walk, cycle or take the bus or train (the median of Irish towns: 23%).
Urban area in Co. Waterford
1,347 people live in Lismore, in the area of Waterford 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).