Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Co. Wexford, home to 544 people.
Set against the median household income, the median home, at €315,000, costs 5.8 times as much. The car is not the only way to work here: 8% of commuters walk, cycle or use public transport. 17% of adults are graduates.
With fewer than 1,000 residents, Ballycanew falls below the line for grades among Irish towns.
The 2 things Ballycanew does most differently from other towns.
3 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
5% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ballycanew.
Radon: 100% of homes are in high-radon areas, above both Co. Wexford’s towns (93%) and Irish towns (0%). The nearest bathing water to Ballycanew is Courtown, North Beach, 6.9 km away, rated excellent in 2025. No part of Ballycanew is mapped as high landslide susceptibility.
| Share of homes | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 100% | 93% | 0% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0% | 0.9% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Day and night, summer and winter, Ballycanew averages 10.6°C. November is the wettest month locally, with 118 mm of rain on average. 998 mm of rain falls in a year, about level with Co. Wexford’s towns (1,026 mm) and above Irish towns (937 mm).
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average temperature over the year | 10.6°C | 10.4°C | 10.3°C |
| January low | 3.3°C | 3.0°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 998 mm | 1,026 mm | 937 mm |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
At the census, 83% of people in Ballycanew called their health good or very good, lower than both Co. Wexford’s towns (85%) and Irish towns (88%). Weighed against its ages, bad health locally runs at 171 per 100 expected. Unpaid caring falls to 7% of the town’s residents.
| Census 2022 | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unpaid carers | 7% | 5.6% | 5.4% |
| Good or very good health | 83% | 85% | 88% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 2.7% | 2% |
| With a disability | 27% | 26% | 22% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Owners make up 63% of households, above Co. Wexford’s towns (60%) and close to Irish towns (61%). A fifth of households are private tenants. The social rented sector houses 15% of households.
| Housing | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €315K | €250K | €350K |
| Households owning their home | 63% | 60% | 61% |
| Households renting privately | 20% | 22% | 22% |
| Households in social housing | 15% | 17% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure · The price is for the postcode area Y25, not the town alone: too few sales inside the town carry a full address.
Woodland covers 4.9% of the land within 1 km, lower than Co. Wexford’s towns (6.9%) yet higher than Irish towns (2.7%). Ballycanew offers 1.4 ha of green space per 1,000 residents.
| Outdoors | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 100% | 83% | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.0 km per km² | 0.7 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Woodland within 1 km | 4.9% | 6.9% | 2.7% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 0% | 2.1% | 1.8% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
The heaviest rain of the week is due on Tuesday, around 14 mm. Ballycanew’s November pattern is steady: afternoons average 11°C, nights 5°C. Expect roughly 1 mm of rain today, wind picking up to 39 km/h, and a low of 10°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 3°C | 273 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 6°C | 201 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 12°C | 223 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 8°C | 301 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Working mainly from home: 6.9% of workers, below both Co. Wexford’s towns (7.8%) and Irish towns (11%). 84% of commuters drove to work at the census. The unemployment rate comes to 8.1%.
| Census 2022 | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 8.1% | 15% | 9.2% |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 72% | 61% | 68% |
| Average trip | 28.8 min | 25.2 min | 27.6 min |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 42% | 44% | 31% |
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.
23% are under 15, higher than both Co. Wexford’s towns (21%) and Irish towns (20%). One measure of its mix: 12% of residents were born abroad. People 65 and over make up 14% of the town.
49.3% of Ballycanew’s residents are women
268 women and 276 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 23% | 21% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 28% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 24% |
| 65+ | 14% | 15% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 18% | 13% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 21% | 18% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 39% | 40% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 5.6% | 6% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 17% | 22% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Wexford and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
There is just one council for Ballycanew, Wexford County Council: Ireland has only one tier of local government. 52% of voters turned out at the last local elections, close to Co. Wexford’s towns (52%) and above Irish towns (46%). General election turnout was 61%. Wexford County Council has no ruling majority: Independent hold 11 of its 34 seats, short of the 18 needed.
| Turnout | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 52% | 52% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 61% | 62% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Archaeologists have recorded 3 sites here. 5.3% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than Co. Wexford’s towns (8%) yet higher than Irish towns (3.4%). Ballycanew’s built heritage counts 5 inventory entries, each of regional standing.
| Heritage | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 92 | 216 | 48 |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 3 | 28 | 11 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 5.3% | 8% | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Families in Ballycanew have one school within 3 km. Pupil numbers changed +6% since 2019/20, higher than both Co. Wexford’s towns (+5%) and Irish towns (+4%). Pupils at the school within 3 km of the town: 224.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballycanew N.S. DEISLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 224 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Ballycanew | Co. Wexford | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 100% | 44% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 6% | 8% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +6% | +5% | +4% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Ireland publishes no results school by school, so these cards carry no letters or results.
2 places to visit are mapped within 5 km of Ballycanew; with them, the best known within 40 km.
CathedralSt Aidan's Cathedral22 km southwest
CastleEnniscorthy Castle21 km southwest
CastleHuntington Castle and Gardens25 km west
CathedralFerns Cathedral13 km west
GardenWells House & Gardens9.5 km southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Ballycanew’s built heritage counts 5 inventory entries, each of regional standing. 3 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie here.
No notable person born in Ballycanew is on our list; these were born in the towns around it.
Michael W. D'Arcy: Houses of the Oireachtas, CC BY 2.0 · Malcolm Byrne: Houses of the Oireachtas, CC BY 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballycanew | 544 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Courtown | 4,365 | 5.6 | D | B− | B+ | D |
| Gorey | 11,517 | 7.5 | D | C | C+ | D |
| Ferns | 1,317 | 13 | — | B | B | C |
| Carnew Wicklow | 1,233 | 17 | — | B | B | C |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
7% mostly work from home, and 42% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Ballycanew had 544 people at the 2022 census, up from 514 in 2016: 5.8% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Ballycanew is 39.5, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 23% of residents are under 15 and 14% are 65 or over.
Urban area in Co. Wexford
Ballycanew has 544 people, in the area of Wexford 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).