Photo: Chris · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 44.1: Kilrush is older than 97% of Irish towns
6.6% of homes are holiday homes (Ireland’s towns: 0.2%). Kilrush counted 2,649 residents and 1,076 households at the 2022 Census. Locally, 38% of households are one person living alone. On residents with no religion, Kilrush sits lower than 98% of Irish towns: 8.4%.
What stands out about the people of Kilrush
Older than most towns
Half of Kilrush’s residents are under 44.1 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 24% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A +9% change since 2016: Kilrush grew faster than 55% 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.
The median across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Clare’s towns +8%.
24% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 97% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 60–64: 6.9% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Ireland’s towns. At 10%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is lower than in 95% of Irish towns. The usual figure: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Kilrush, 44.1. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
6.2% of residents 15 and over are students, below 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
Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Kilrush, 26% and 19%. 7.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a lower share than in 51% of Irish towns.
Below 94% of Irish towns: 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
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.
In Kilrush the average household is 2.3 people, beside 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 36% of households are parents with children.
Households without a car or van make up 28% in Kilrush, more than in 82% 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
Broadband reaches nearly four in five households; 19% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). The share of households without a car or van across Ireland’s towns is 17%. The census found that 11% of households live in a flat or apartment in Kilrush.
Half of households earn more than €34,240 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of households are below €34,240 a year before tax: 43% under the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Clare comes in at €54,650 at the median.
18% born outside Ireland, fewer than in 68% of Irish towns
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.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 13%, against 15% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born in the UK (6.7%) and outside the EU and UK (3.5%). Against that, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
Only 0.6% of residents speak Irish daily outside education in Kilrush
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
No town in Co. Clare beats Ennis (1.6%). The wider picture: 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
In Kilrush, 82% of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 95% 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: 84% of Kilrush · Co. Clare’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (9.2%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.1%) and Other, including mixed (1.9%). The share of residents who said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns is 71%. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White Irish are common here: 84%, more than in 73% of Irish towns.
Fewer married residents 15 and over than 83% of Irish towns: 29%
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.
At 4.7%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 21% in Kilrush, less than in 87% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
5.2% of Kilrush’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 19% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). The benchmark for adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns: 36%.
Oldest by rank: 2nd of 41 towns of 2,510 to 3,211 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 30.4 in Kilbarry to 45.5 in Ballybrack. Nearest to Kilrush in age: Boyle (43.8), Edenmore (44.1) and Ballybrack (45.5).
Every nearby town is older than Kilrush
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilrush | 2,649 | — | 44.1 | 24% | 36% |
| Kilkee | 1,214 | 11.5 km | 48.5 | 26% | 24% |
| Ballybunion | 1,618 | 18.8 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 Kilrush’s residents
What is the population of Kilrush?
Kilrush had 2,649 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Kilrush?
The median age is 44.1, older than 97% of Irish towns. 22% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Kilrush?
35% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (816 people), and 0.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Kilrush?
84% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 18% were born abroad and 13% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Kilrush?
82% are Catholic, 8.4% have no religion and 9.3% another religion; 7.9% didn’t say.
Is Kilrush good for families?
36% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Kilrush are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Kilrush?
Median gross household income in Kilrush was €34,240 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).