The Irish Padel Court Density League 2026: Every County in the Republic Ranked
Updated 2 October 2026 · Openplay Research · Data from our verified national court tracker + CSO Census 2022. Every venue's court count individually verified against its own booking system, planning record or published information. Free to cite with attribution and a link to this page.
Which county in the Republic of Ireland is best served for padel? We divided the number of open, bookable padel courts (individual courts, not venues) in each of the 26 counties by its Census 2022 population. The results upend most assumptions — the padel capital of the Republic isn't Dublin, Cork or Galway.
The numbers at a glance: our tracker follows 147 locations across the island of Ireland → 97 venues are open today with 346 courts between them → of those, 72 venues with 230 courts are in the Republic. This page ranks the Republic.
- Westmeath rises from 8th to 2nd. Project Padel Mullingar, at Mullingar Business Park, lists three courts on its Rallyd booking page and had bookings on the system when we checked on 2 October. It was missing from our tracker; we do not know when it opened. Westmeath now has 8 courts at three venues: 8.3 per 100,000, second only to Limerick. Its verified pipeline is unchanged at zero.
No other county's courts changed. Waterford, Laois, Monaghan, Louth, Sligo and Wexford each move down one place; nothing below 8th moves. The national average moves from 4.41 to 4.47 per 100,000.
- Waterford rises from joint 11th to 2nd. Park Padel at Waterpark RFC in Ballinakill opened at the start of October with four outdoor courts — all four had bookable slots on Playtomic when we checked on 2 October. Waterford now has 10 courts at three venues: 7.9 per 100,000, second only to Limerick. Its verified pipeline falls from 10 courts to 6.
No other county's courts changed. Laois, Monaghan, Louth, Sligo, Wexford, Westmeath, Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare each move down one place, and Clare goes from joint 11th to 12th. The national average moves from 4.33 to 4.41 per 100,000.
- Monaghan jumps from 21st to 3rd. Padel 100's three outdoor courts at Monaghan United FC — the venue our August correction took out of the count — are now bookable on Playtomic. Monaghan has four courts at two venues: 6.1 per 100,000.
- Clare is back to joint 11th. Banner Padel Ennis's soft opening is over and all six courts are now bookable. Clare returns to 4.7 per 100,000.
- Kildare rises from 13th to 10th. PadelZone Celbridge now lists eight bookable courts on Playtomic, up from the five we counted in August. Kildare has 12 courts at three venues: 4.8 per 100,000.
- Dublin rises from joint 11th to joint 8th. Three additions: West Wood Club Leopardstown's eight indoor courts (booking is members-only — the public cannot book), Halpenny Padel's four outdoor courts at Dublin Airport, and two courts at Charleville Lawn Tennis Club in Drumcondra — an existing members' club our tracker had missed, not a new opening. Dublin now has 75 courts at 24 venues: 5.1 per 100,000.
No other county's courts changed, but several move down as these four move up — Louth and Sligo now share 4th, and Waterford, Kerry, Longford and Donegal each drop between three and four places. Leitrim, Offaly and Roscommon still have no open court. The national average moves from 3.88 to 4.33 per 100,000.
- Meath is off zero. Indoor Padel Ireland opens six indoor courts in Navan on 22 September — five doubles and a singles court, all listed on Playtomic. Meath enters at 17th on 2.7 per 100,000, above Cork, in a single opening.
- Sligo is off zero. Let's Go Padel Sligo opened on Finisklin Road in August with four courts, not the ten that had been announced — three indoor including a singles court, plus one outdoor. Sligo goes from bottom of the table to joint 3rd on 5.7 per 100,000, which is what four courts does for a county of 70,000 people.
- Clare was over-counted. Banner Padel Ennis has six courts built but is on a soft opening with three in play. Under the bookable-today rule only three count; Clare drops from joint 7th to 20th on 2.3. The other three will lift it straight back when they go live.
Three counties now have no open court: Leitrim, Offaly and Roscommon. The national average moves from 3.75 to 3.88 per 100,000.
- Clare was listed with zero open courts. That was wrong. Banner Padel Ennis is open with six indoor courts and is selling memberships. Clare enters the table in joint 7th on 4.7 courts per 100,000 — and is no longer one of the counties with nothing open.
- Monaghan was over-counted. We had four open courts across two venues; Padel 100 at Monaghan United FC is not yet open. Monaghan has one open court and falls from 3rd to 19th.
- Kildare was over-counted. PadelZone Celbridge has five courts, not eight. Kildare falls from 8th to 13th.
- Dublin is 61 open courts, not 62. We could not independently verify padel at West Wood Club Westmanstown — the club's own padel page returns a 404 and West Wood directs members to Leopardstown — so it has been removed from the count pending confirmation.
Venues we cannot independently verify are now excluded from every figure on this page. Ten such venues, holding 40 courts between them, sit outside these counts.
Key findings
- Limerick is the padel capital of the Republic, and it is not close. 11.5 courts per 100,000 people: 24 courts across five venues, after Padel Tennis Ireland opened eight full-size courts at Garryowen FC in late July. That is more than two and a half times the national average and well clear of second place.
- Westmeath is now second on 8.3 per 100k: eight courts across three venues for 96,000 people. Planet Padel Athlone has three indoor courts, Padel 100 at Kinnegad GAA two outdoor, and Project Padel Mullingar three, added to our tracker on 2 October.
- Waterford is third on 7.9 per 100k. Park Padel at Waterpark RFC opened four outdoor courts at the start of October, taking the county to 10 courts across three venues for 127,000 people.
- Laois is fourth — 6.5 per 100k. A county of 91,000 people with six open courts across three venues.
- Monaghan is fifth on 6.1 per 100k — up from 21st in September, now that Padel 100's three outdoor courts at Monaghan United FC are bookable alongside WePadel. Four courts for a county of 65,000 people.
- Louth and Sligo share sixth at 5.7 per 100k — Louth with eight courts across three venues including District 4's four-court indoor club in Dundalk; Sligo with a single four-court Let's Go Padel venue that opened in August.
- One venue can move a county a long way. Indoor Padel Ireland's six courts in Navan took Meath from nothing to 2.7 per 100k — 19th today, above Cork — in a single opening. Clare shows the same effect: Banner Padel's move from three bookable courts to six took the county from 20th to joint 11th (4.7); it is 12th today.
- Dublin ranks joint 9th of 26. Its 75 open courts across 24 venues are by far the country's most — but divided by 1.46 million people that is 5.1 per 100k, not far above the national average. That includes West Wood Leopardstown's eight indoor courts, which only members can book. Dublin's pipeline, at 15 courts, is joint largest in the Republic with Cork's. Today, the capital is where demand outstrips supply the most.
- Cork ranks 20th at 2.6 per 100k, with 15 pipeline courts including the consented six-court club at St Patrick's Woollen Mills in Douglas.
- The national average is 4.47 courts per 100k — 230 open courts across 72 venues, for 5.15 million people (Census 2022).
- Three counties still have zero open courts — Leitrim, Offaly and Roscommon. Leitrim has two applications lodged and Roscommon a Padel 100 site coming at Athlone; Offaly has nothing verified.
- For scale: Spain has roughly 35.5 courts per 100k — eight times the Republic's density — while Britain has ~2.2. Ireland is already ahead of Britain per head, with years of runway left. See the international benchmark.
The league table — Republic of Ireland
| # | County | Open courts | Venues | Courts per 100k | Pipeline courts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Limerick | 24 | 5 | 11.5 | 3 |
| 2 | Westmeath | 8 | 3 | 8.3 | 0 |
| 3 | Waterford | 10 | 3 | 7.9 | 6 |
| 4 | Laois | 6 | 3 | 6.5 | 0 |
| 5 | Monaghan | 4 | 2 | 6.1 | 0 |
| 6= | Louth | 8 | 3 | 5.7 | 0 |
| 6= | Sligo | 4 | 1 | 5.7 | 3 |
| 8 | Wexford | 9 | 4 | 5.5 | 4 |
| 9= | Dublin | 75 | 24 | 5.1 | 15 |
| 9= | Wicklow | 8 | 3 | 5.1 | 0 |
| 11 | Kildare | 12 | 3 | 4.8 | 12 |
| 12 | Clare | 6 | 1 | 4.7 | 3 |
| 13 | Kerry | 7 | 2 | 4.5 | 1 |
| 14 | Longford | 2 | 1 | 4.3 | 0 |
| 15 | Donegal | 7 | 2 | 4.2 | 0 |
| 16 | Carlow | 2 | 1 | 3.2 | 0 |
| 17= | Mayo | 4 | 1 | 2.9 | 8 |
| 17= | Galway | 8 | 3 | 2.9 | 2 |
| 19 | Meath | 6 | 1 | 2.7 | 2 |
| 20 | Cork | 15 | 3 | 2.6 | 15 |
| 21 | Cavan | 2 | 1 | 2.4 | 0 |
| 22 | Tipperary | 2 | 1 | 1.2 | 4 |
| 23 | Kilkenny | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 13 |
| 24= | Leitrim | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 24= | Offaly | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24= | Roscommon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
The chasing pack
The pipeline column is where the next 12 months get decided. Dublin and Cork (15 pipeline courts each) are building fastest in absolute terms; Kilkenny (13 pipeline against 1 open) is the county about to jump furthest — the six-court Padel Hub at Cillin Hill and Arena Padel's six at Gowran Park would take it from 23rd to the top of the table on today's figures. Kildare's 12 are dominated by a single project, the approved nine-court Arena Padel centre at Greenhill backed by former Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given. Offaly is now the only county in the Republic with no open court and nothing verified in the pipeline.
North of the border, for context: our island-wide tracker also covers Northern Ireland, where density is higher again — Derry alone has 24 open courts (9.5 per 100k on NISRA Census 2021 figures), and NI accounts for 116 of the island's 346 open courts on six counties.
Methodology & sources
Court counts: Openplay's national padel court tracker — 147 tracked locations across the island; venue statuses and per-venue court counts individually verified against operator booking systems, planning authority records, venue announcements and local press, September–October 2026. "Open courts" = individual courts — doubles and singles courts both counted — at venues currently operating; counts include private members' clubs, so not every court is publicly bookable. Venues we cannot independently verify are excluded from all figures on this page — ten venues holding 40 courts currently sit in that category. "Pipeline" = courts at venues in build, with planning granted, or with a live planning application lodged; unverified venues are excluded from pipeline figures too. Pipeline projects can and do change, and applications can be refused or withdrawn. County classification follows traditional counties; Dublin combines its four local authorities, and Cork, Galway and Limerick combine city and county. Population: CSO Census 2022, table FY003B — data.cso.ie/table/FY003B. Northern Ireland context figures: NISRA Census 2021 — nisra.gov.uk. International comparisons: Spain ~17,300 courts, FIP World Padel Report 2025, Dec 2025 — padelfip.com (population: World Bank 2024); Britain 1,553 courts, LTA, April 2026 — ltapadel.org.uk. Per-100k figures are indicative — court-count methodologies differ between countries.
Spotted an error or a court we're missing? Tell us — corrections are made within days, and published openly when we get something wrong. © Openplay Research 2026 — free to cite with attribution and a link to this page.
Explore more: the live court map · the international benchmark · the Irish Padel Price Index · the planning register · State of Padel in Ireland 2026.