Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This town in Co. Waterford has a population of 634.
The median sale, €320,000, is 5.4 times what the median household here earns. Walking, cycling and public transport carry 4% of commuters. 16% of residents are 15 to 24. Mortgage-free owners make up 42% of households.
With fewer than 1,000 residents, Passage East falls below the line for grades among Irish towns.
The 3 things Passage East does most differently from other towns.
1 archaeological site are on the record here too.
6% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Passage East.
Families in Passage East have 3 schools within 3 km to choose from: 3 primary schools. DEIS, the support scheme, covers a third of them, about level with Irish towns (35%) and below Co. Waterford’s towns (41%).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passage East N.S. Special classesLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 101 | Catholic |
| S.N. Catriona Nfa DEISIn the DEIS schemePrimary | Primary | 61 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +16% | +4% | +4% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 6% | 8% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 33% | 41% | 35% |
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 closest place to swim from Passage East is Duncannon, 3.2 km away, rated excellent in 2025. 0.7% of its homes sit in high-radon areas, lower than Co. Waterford’s towns (69%) yet higher than Irish towns (0%). By estimate, fewer than one home in a hundred locally has radon above the reference level.
| Share of homes | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| On high landslide susceptibility | 5.3% | 0.2% | 0% |
| In high-radon areas | 0.7% | 69% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
January nights bottom out at 3.2°C in Passage East, close to Co. Waterford’s towns (3.4°C) and above Irish towns (2.9°C). Day and night, summer and winter, Passage East averages 10.5°C. This Co. Waterford town is 0.2°C warmer over the year than in 1981–2010.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 19.7°C | 20.2°C | 19.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 10.5°C | 10.8°C | 10.3°C |
| January low | 3.2°C | 3.4°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,025 mm | 1,022 mm | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
A quarter of residents in Passage East live with a disability. Unpaid carers make up 6.5% of residents, above Co. Waterford’s towns (5.6%) and Irish towns (5.4%) alike. Ages taken into account, Passage East counts 116 people with a disability for every 100 predicted.
| Census 2022 | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid carers | 6.5% | 5.6% | 5.4% |
| Bad or very bad health | 1.6% | 2.4% | 2% |
| With a disability | 25% | 24% | 22% |
| Good or very good health | 89% | 87% | 88% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
73% of households own their home, above both Co. Waterford’s towns (59%) and Irish towns (61%). Council and housing-body homes hold 17% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €329,500 | 38 |
| Housing | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households renting privately | 7% | 16% | 22% |
| Households owning their home | 73% | 59% | 61% |
| Households in social housing | 17% | 19% | 13% |
| Median sale price | €320K | €294K | €350K |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
Protected nature near Passage East includes River Barrow. Within 5 km, 12% of the land is protected nature, above Co. Waterford’s towns (5.5%) and Irish towns (1.8%) alike.
| Outdoors | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 41% | 80% | 92% |
| Sea within 5 km | 23% | 0% | 0% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 12% | 5.5% | 1.8% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.1 km per km² | 1.1 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Passage East’s November average makes a useful yardstick: afternoons reach 11°C, nights fall to 5°C. A dry day with a stiff breeze lies ahead today: wind building to 30 km/h, then a low of 4°C. Rain peaks later in the week on Tuesday, at about 18 mm for the day.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 3°C | 279 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 6°C | 208 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 11°C | 229 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 8°C | 310 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Short trips: 24% under 15 minutes, below both Co. Waterford’s towns (47%) and Irish towns (31%). 85% of commuters drove to work at the census. The unemployment rate here is 6.8%.
| Census 2022 | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trips under 15 minutes | 24% | 47% | 31% |
| Unemployment rate | 6.8% | 11% | 9.2% |
| Average trip | 26.8 min | 20.4 min | 27.6 min |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 69% | 65% | 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.
Just over a tenth of the people living here were born in another country. Daily Irish speakers outside school: 0.3%, near Co. Waterford’s towns (0.8%) and lower than Irish towns (1.1%). Graduates make up 28% of adults.
52.2% of Passage East’s residents are women
331 women and 303 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 19% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 28% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 24% |
| 65+ | 15% | 16% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 10% | 12% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 16% | 18% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 40% | 36% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 6.7% | 6% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 28% | 29% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Waterford and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
There is just one council for Passage East, Waterford City and County Council: Ireland has only one tier of local government. At the general election 56% voted, near Co. Waterford’s towns (56%) and lower than Irish towns (59%). Independent lead Waterford City and County Council with 8 of 32 seats, but no party has a majority: 17 are needed.
| Turnout | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 50% | 48% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 56% | 56% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
6.2% of its homes were built before 1919, above Co. Waterford’s towns (2.6%) and Irish towns (3.4%) alike. The ground here holds 1 recorded archaeological sites. Passage East’s built heritage counts 4 inventory entries, each of regional standing. One recorded monument or archaeological site lies here.
| Heritage | Passage East | Co. Waterford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 63 | 34 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 6.2% | 2.6% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 1 | 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 Passage East. Best known first.
Castle · Office of Public WorksBallyhack Castle900 m outside town, to the north
MuseumDuncannon Fort Tour2.3 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttractionDunbrody Abbey Hedge Maze5 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Passage East’s built heritage counts 4 inventory entries, each of regional standing. One recorded monument or archaeological site lies here.
2 notable people were born in Passage East; with them, the best known born in the towns around it.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passage East | 634 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grantstown and Ballinakill | 9,571 | 6.7 | B− | C+ | D | A+ |
| Grange Upper | 2,510 | 8.2 | B | C+ | D | A− |
| Grange | 4,109 | 8.3 | D− | C+ | D | C− |
| Ferrybank Kilkenny | 5,766 | 9.1 | B+ | A− | B− | B |
| Dunmore East | 1,731 | 9.3 | — | D | A | A |
| Ballytruckle | 6,563 | 9.5 | D | C+ | D | C− |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
The median age in Passage East is 39.3, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 19% of residents are under 15 and 15% are 65 or over.
11% mostly work from home, and 24% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Passage East had 634 people at the 2022 census, down from 645 in 2016: 1.7% fewer, while the median of Irish towns grew 7.6%.
Urban area in Co. Waterford
Passage East has 634 people, 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). 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).