New research ranks Donegal as 15th highest county for gaming
Carlow named top county for gaming in Ireland
New research reveals that Donegal ranks 15th for competitive gaming in Ireland, with the county recording 628 competitive gaming searches per 100,000 people.
The research analysed performance-driven search behaviour across every county, examining searches like "ranked mode", "how to go pro in gaming" and "esports gaming" and adjusting results per 100,000 people for a fair county-by-county comparison.
Taking the top spot with an impressive 2,066 competitive gaming searches per 100,000 people, Carlow is officially Ireland's most competitive gaming county.
Coming in second place was Leitrim, recording 1,392 competitive gaming searches per 100,000 people.
Laois took third place with 1,240 competitive gaming searches per 100,000 people. The county's position in this ranking should come as no surprise. Laois also ranks as the number one county in the country for esports streaming, with 33% of its adult population watching esports regularly.
Roscommon took fourth place with 1,110 competitive gaming searches per 100,000 people.
Completing the top five is Longford, with 1,069 competitive gaming searches per 100,000 people.
Search data was gathered by Virgin Media Ireland, using Google Keyword Planner, analysing performance-driven gaming search terms across every county in Ireland throughout 2025.
Keywords included terms such as “ranked mode”, “how to go pro in gaming”, “esports gaming” and more, to reflect competitive gaming intent rather than casual play. To ensure a fair comparison between counties of varying sizes, all results were adjusted per 100,000 people using Central Statistics Office (CSO) population data.