Photo: Joseph Mischyshyn · CC BY-SA 2.0Kilkee is older than 99% of Irish towns: a median age of 48.5
4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns, against 1.4% in Kilkee. The town has fewer households of parents with children than 91% of Irish towns, at 24%. At the 2022 Census Kilkee was home to 1,214 people in 496 households. In Kilkee, 79% of residents said they are Catholic.
What stands out about the people of Kilkee
One home in 2 is a holiday home
About 1,110 of 1,690 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (66%), more than in 99% of Irish towns; 3.8% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Kilkee’s residents are under 48.5 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 26% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Kilkee went from about 920 people in 2016 to 1,214 in 2022, +32%: faster growth than in 97% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Growth of +32% since 2016 puts Kilkee ahead of 97% 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.
Set beside +8% across Ireland’s towns and +8% across Co. Clare’s towns.
Above 99% of Irish towns: 26% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 12%. The wider picture: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Clare 51.5%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Kilkee, 6.8% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 99% of Irish towns
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
Compared with a typical 11%, skilled trades account for nearly a fifth of workers. As a yardstick, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 7.9%.
One-person homes: 46% of households in Kilkee
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Clare’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
A household here has 1.9 people on average; across Ireland’s towns, 2.7. Across Ireland’s towns, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone.
Kilkee: 66% of homes are holiday homes, above 99% of Irish towns
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
Compared with 12% across Ireland’s towns, nearly one in ten households live in a flat or apartment here. Census figures put households without a car or van at 24% in Kilkee. Across Ireland’s towns, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes.
Half above, half below €29,270 a year in household income
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €29,270 sits 51% below Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Clare the median is €54,650.
Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 56% of Irish towns: 14%
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.
French leads the languages spoken at home (0.9%), among the 4% who speak another language there; 0.6% speak English not well or not at all. As a yardstick, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Residents born outside Ireland: 21% here and 22% across Ireland’s towns.
Irish: 36% of Kilkee’s residents can speak it
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
In all, 342 residents aged 3 and over (36%) can speak Irish. 1.4% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, a higher share than in 73% of Irish towns.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 98% of Irish towns, at 91%
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: 91% of Kilkee · Co. Clare’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents with no religion is 15%, against 17% across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. After White Irish, the most common groups are Other White (7%), Other, including mixed (1.2%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.5%).
Kilkee sits above 85% of Irish towns for unpaid carers (6.3%)
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.
Where just over a third of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns, Kilkee has 33%. To put it in context, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
In Kilkee, 25% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 77% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Kilkee’s adults, 7.5% went on to postgraduate study and 17% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). The benchmark for adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns: 36%.
Every neighbour of Kilkee has a younger population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilkee | 1,214 | — | 48.5 | 26% | 24% |
| Kilrush | 2,649 | 11.5 km | 44.1 | 24% | 36% |
| Ballybunion | 1,618 | 18.6 km | 44.4 | 24% | 36% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Clare’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Clare’s towns of 2,500 or more and over 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 Kilkee’s residents
What is the population of Kilkee?
Kilkee had 1,214 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 32% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Kilkee?
The median age is 48.5. 18% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Kilkee?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (342 people), and 1.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Kilkee?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 21% were born abroad and 14% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Kilkee?
79% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 6.3% another religion; 19% didn’t say.
Is Kilkee good for families?
24% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 18% of residents are under 18. Schools near Kilkee are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Kilkee?
Median gross household income in Kilkee was €29,270 in 2022, against €54,650 across Co. Clare 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).