The loudest cities in Ireland, ranked by noise exposure

Ireland's 3 ranked agglomerations house 1,961,534 residents. Loudest first, by exposed-resident day-evening-night (Lden) level: Dublin (55–70 dB), Cork (55–70 dB), Limerick (55–70 dB) — down to Limerick at 55–70 dB. The median city centres near Lden 62.5 dB. Road traffic is the dominant source in all 3. The most populous, Dublin at 1,566,538 residents, ranks #124 across Europe with exposed-resident Lden of 55–70 dB. The WHO road-traffic guideline is 53 dB Lden by day and 45 dB Lnight at night, which most of these Ireland cities exceed for their noise-exposed residents.

These are measured values, not estimates — strategic noise maps reported under the EU Environmental Noise Directive (2022 round), harmonised by the European Environment Agency, covering road, rail, aircraft and industry. Lnight, the night-time figure, is the level most closely tied to sleep disturbance, which is why the EU reports it separately from the daytime Lden. Open any Ireland city below for its full figures, then measure your own street with the free live meter.

Which Ireland cities are the noisiest?

By this EEA data the noisiest Ireland cities are the same as the loudest, since "noisiest" here means measured road, rail, aircraft and industrial exposure: Dublin, Cork, Limerick top the list, led by Dublin at Lden 55–70 dB (road traffic). The full ranking is in the table above.

Ireland noise: the numbers

• 3 Ireland agglomerations are in the measured European ranking — 19th-most of any country here.
• Loudest: Dublin at exposed-resident Lden 55–70 dB (European #124).
• Quietest ranked: Limerick at Lden 55–70 dB; median near Lden 62.5 dB.
• Road traffic is the dominant source in 3 of the 3.
• Combined population of the 3: 1,961,534.