Photo: Dylan Moore · CC BY-SA 2.0Rathtoe is younger than 99% of Irish towns: a median age of 27
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish is 78%; Rathtoe has 96%. Census figures put households of parents with children at 73% here. Holiday homes are rarer here than in 93% of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census Rathtoe was home to 296 people in 81 households.
Slower than most: +3% since 2016, behind 79% of Irish towns
Residents at the 2016 and 2022 censuses, on 2022 boundaries, and the change beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Change, 2016 to 2022
CSO publishes yearly population estimates for counties and regions, not towns, so the trend is two censuses rather than a line; 2016 ages aren’t on 2022 boundaries, so there is no change by age.
For comparison, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +9% across Co. Carlow’s towns.
5.4% of residents are 65 or over, below 96% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 tops 98% of Irish towns: 25%. To put it in context, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
About 80 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Carlow 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
20% of residents 15 and over are students, a share 98% of Irish towns don’t reach
CSO’s social classes (everyone, by their own or their family’s occupation), the occupations of those at work, and where residents lived a year before the Census.
Residents by social class · all residents
Where residents lived a year earlier
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Workers by occupation · residents at work
Across Ireland’s towns, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier; in Rathtoe, 2.4%. The wider picture: 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
8.6% of households are one person living alone, below 99% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Carlow’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
The average household has 3.7 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. The benchmark for one-person households across Ireland’s towns: 24%. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in just over two thirds of Irish towns.
Rathtoe sits below 99% of Irish towns for households without a car or van (2.7%)
Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Internet at home · share of households
Broadband reaches just over four in five households; 6.8% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Elsewhere, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
Household income at the median: €81,030 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Rathtoe’s households have a gross income above €81,030 a year, 35% above the median for Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Carlow, the figure is €53,120.
A smaller share of residents born outside Ireland than 98% of Irish towns: 8.5%
Place of birth and citizenship as CSO asks them: born abroad includes Irish citizens born abroad.
Born abroad, by birthplace · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.
Other languages · share of all residents
CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.
4.2% of residents are citizens of another country (Ireland’s towns: 15%). For comparison, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in the UK (7.8%), then elsewhere in the EU (0.3%).
Fewer daily speakers of Irish outside education than 99% of Irish towns: 0.4%
Residents aged 3 and over who can speak Irish, and how often they speak it outside education (CSO).
Irish speakers · residents aged 3 and over
Some 121 people here, 43% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. The benchmark for daily speakers of Irish outside education across Ireland’s towns: 1.1%. In Co. Carlow, Carlow has the highest share (1.2%).
Rathtoe: 85% of residents said they are Catholic, above 98% of Irish towns
Ethnic or cultural background and religion, in CSO’s categories, as people described themselves.
Ethnic groups other than White Irish · all residents
White Irish, not charted: 96% of Rathtoe · Co. Carlow’s towns 79% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 11%, below 90% of Irish towns. Set beside that, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Other than White Irish, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3.1%), Other, including mixed (1%) and Black or Black Irish (0.3%).
Rathtoe: 40% of residents 15 and over are married, above 89% of Irish towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.
Partnership status · residents 15 and over
The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.
Against a figure of 5.4% across Ireland’s towns, the share of unpaid carers in Rathtoe comes in at 3.7%. On average, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
In Rathtoe, 32% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 58% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Among residents 15 and over, 26% are still studying. Elsewhere, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Of Rathtoe’s adults, 8.5% went on to postgraduate study and 4.2% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns).
Every neighbour of Rathtoe has an older population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathtoe | 296 | — | 27 | 5.4% | 73% |
| Tullow | 5,138 | 4.5 km | 36.2 | 12% | 46% |
| Carlow | 27,351 | 9.9 km | 36.3 | 12% | 43% |
| Rathvilly | 1,074 | 12.4 km | 37.6 | 13% | 46% |
| Castledermot | 1,685 | 13.9 km | 36.7 | 13% | 49% |
| Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) | 2,945 | 14.8 km | 39.8 | 18% | 43% |
| Baltinglass | 2,611 | 17.8 km | 38.2 | 14% | 45% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Carlow’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Carlow has fewer than five towns of 2,500 or more, so its figure is the median of its towns of 1,000 or more; the national figure is the median of the Irish towns of 2,500 or more (city totals left out). Percentiles are within Ireland only.
- The earlier population is an estimate. Towns had no official 2016 count on today’s boundaries, so the 2016 figure is CSO’s electoral-division count shared out by where people lived in 2022: read a small town in a large rural division loosely.
- What these tables don’t give. The small-area tables give no year of arrival and no hours of care, and a town’s electoral divisions run past its edge, so the page doesn’t split a town into named areas (a city lists its neighbourhoods).
- The census’s own words. Born abroad, citizenship, ethnic or cultural background and religion are CSO’s questions and categories; the page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Rathtoe’s residents
What is the population of Rathtoe?
Rathtoe had 296 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rathtoe?
The median age is 27. 32% are under 18 and 5.4% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rathtoe?
43% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (121 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rathtoe?
96% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 8.5% were born abroad and 4.2% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rathtoe?
85% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 3.9% another religion; 4.1% didn’t say.
Is Rathtoe good for families?
73% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 32% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rathtoe are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rathtoe?
Median gross household income in Rathtoe was €81,030 in 2022, against €53,120 across Co. Carlow and €60,120 for Ireland.
Sources: CSO, Census of Population 2022, Small Area Population Statistics · CSO PxStat FP009 (2016 by electoral division) · CSO GPIIA, household income 2022. 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).