Living in Mountrath, Co. Laois: Schools, Commute & House Prices 2026

Leinster house prices & rents › Laois › Living in Mountrath

Mountrath is a town in Co. Laois, about 85 minutes from Dublin city centre by car and on the rail line, 7 schools, 49.3% of households own their home. Living here costs a median €256,500 to buy or €1,129 a month to rent (a 5.3% gross yield).

Official CSO, Department of Education, Transport for Ireland, PPR & RTB data · 26 sales · updated July 2026

How Mountrath compares: at €256,500 it is 28% below the County Laois median of €355k. Its 5.3% gross yield is above the county average of 4.3%.Recent activity in Mountrath: latest recorded sale Jun 2026; 74 new homes approved in the last year; prices +14.0% year on year. This page updates as new official data lands.

Who lives in Mountrath — 49.3% own their home, full Census breakdown

Who lives in Mountrath

2,070 people live in Mountrath on Census 2022 night. 49% of households own their home and 43% rent, so Mountrath leans towards owner occupiers. The most common way to commute is by car (64%). It skews young: 23% are under 15 against 13% aged 65 and over. 22% of those who have finished education hold a third level qualification.

Source: CSO Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics for the Mountrath built-up area, CC-BY 4.0.

Getting around and commuting

Nearest train station: Portlaoise (12.3 km away), on several Dublin intercity lines

Public transport serving Mountrath — 2 operators

Getting around Mountrath

Mountrath is served by 2 public-transport operators running 5 scheduled routes. Operators are Slieve Bloom Coach Tours and TFI Local Link Laois Offaly.

Scheduled routes

• 822 - Mountrath - Carlow
• 831 - Portlaoise - Portlaoise
• 832 - Errill - Portlaoise
• 834 - Roscrea - Portlaoise
• LS1 - Borris-in-Ossory - Mount Lucas

Source: Transport for Ireland GTFS_All feed (NTA), CC-BY 4.0. Stops matched to the town within a 6 km radius; route list capped.

Schools in Mountrath

There are 6 primary and 1 post-primary schools in and around Mountrath, 2 of them in the DEIS programme.

Source: Department of Education, Data on Individual Schools. CC-BY 4.0.

Things to do in and around Mountrath

• Heritage nearby: Dunamase Castle (18 km) · Timahoe Round Tower (19 km) · Sierkieran Monastic Site (23 km) · Dunmore Cave (33 km)
• Walking trails in County Laois: Barrow Way · Abbeyleix Loops - Collins Bog Loop · Abbeyleix Loops - Killamuck Bog Loop · Brittas Forest Loop
• Nature reserves: Slieve Bloom Mountains Nature Reserve · Timahoe Esker Nature Reserve · Coolacurragh Wood Nature Reserve

Where Mountrath is

Map © OpenStreetMap contributors

What it costs: house prices and rent in Mountrath

What this means: New builds in Mountrath sell at about a 57% premium to second-hand homes (€394,975 vs €251,500).

Recent sales in Mountrath

Actual sale prices from the Property Price Register, verifiable at propertypriceregister.ie.

Mountrath median price, year by year

Maximum legal rent increase in Mountrath

Since 1 March 2026 a rent review is capped at the lower of 2% a year (pro rata) or CPI inflation.

The full March 2026 rent review rules

Mountrath compared with County Laois

Rent or buy in Mountrath?

At a glance: €256,500 to buy versus €1,129 a month to rent, a 5.3% gross yield.

Local Property Tax in Mountrath

The median home (€256,500) falls in LPT Band 2, a base charge of €235 a year before Laois County Council's local adjustment factor. Use the calculator for your exact valuation.

Renting in Mountrath: the March 2026 rent rules

Every rent increase is now capped at the lesser of 2% a year (pro rata) or CPI inflation, nationwide since 1 March 2026. A review needs 90 days' notice on the RTB form, no more than one in any 12 months, and the notice must cite three comparable homes from the RTB Rent Register. Check any rent increase against the legal cap, or see average rents for every Leinster town.

Before you move: planning and flood

Recent development in Mountrath

In the 12 months to July 2026, 41 planning grants were recorded in and around Mountrath, including 74 new homes approved across those grants.

Source: Irish Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (ArcGIS, CC-BY 4.0). Granted applications keyed to the nearest town within 7 km. Homes column shows residential units in the application where recorded.

What this means: The 74 homes approved here in the last year are about 10% of Mountrath's roughly 764 households, a supply pipeline that typically eases price pressure.

Flood maps

For the modelled fluvial, coastal and pluvial flood extents around Mountrath, open the official OPW flood maps, the authoritative source for Mountrath, Laois.

View the official OPW flood maps for Mountrath →

Source: Office of Public Works, floodinfo.ie. No OPW flood-extent values are reproduced here.

County context

Planning permissions are reported at NUTS3 region level; counties in this region share a figure.

Sources: CSO F1001, CIA02, BHQ09. CC-BY 4.0.

Nearby Laois towns

Portlaoise · Mountmellick · Portarlington

All Laois house prices · All Leinster house prices

Sources: CSO Census 2022, Department of Education, Transport for Ireland, Property Price Register (PSRA), CSO RPPI, RTB via CSO. CC-BY. Figures verifiable at the official source.