Photo: Jonathan Billinger · CC BY-SA 2.0Ballydehob is older than 99% of Irish towns: a median age of 55.1
11% of homes are holiday homes; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 0.2%. Ballydehob is home to 345 residents in 185 households, by the 2022 Census. One-person households account for 47%. Higher than in 94% of Irish towns: 33% of residents said they have no religion.
A growing town: +9% since 2016, faster than 59% 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.
Medians for comparison: +8% across Ireland’s towns; +7% across Co. Cork’s towns.
More residents aged 65 and over than 99% of Irish towns: 29%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 55–59: 12% of residents, 2.2 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Here, 8.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24. For comparison, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
In Ballydehob, 7.8% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 95% 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 Ballydehob, 35% and 13%. For Ballydehob, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 5.6%.
Ballydehob households average 1.9 people, smaller than in 99% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Cork’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
By its share of households of parents with children (27%), Ballydehob is below 89% of Irish towns. 3.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Ballydehob sits below 63% of Irish towns for households in flats (10%)
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
At home, 80% have broadband, while 14% have no internet access (typical: 7.6%). As a reference point, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 18% of households have no car or van.
Half of households earn more than €35,140 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€35,140 a year before tax puts the median household 42% below Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Cork as a whole, the figure is €60,670.
More residents born outside Ireland than 80% of Irish towns: 30%
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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
18% of residents are citizens of another country, against 15% across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Another language is spoken at home by 8.9%, most often French (1.4%); 0.3% speak English not well or not at all.
1.9% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, a share 90% of Irish towns don’t reach
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, 122 residents aged 3 and over (39%) can speak Irish. Across Ireland’s towns, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education.
53% of residents said they are Catholic, fewer than in 90% 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: 77% of Ballydehob · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White Irish, the biggest groups are Other White (22%), Other, including mixed (0.6%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.3%). Lower than in just over half of Irish towns: 77% of residents describe themselves as White Irish. By way of comparison, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
Ballydehob ranks above 99% of Irish towns on unpaid carers: 7.5%
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.
The share of married residents 15 and over tops 68% of Irish towns: 37%. For unpaid carers, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 5.4%.
A smaller share of adults with a degree or higher than 55% of Irish towns: 33%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, nearly one in ten adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 13% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Every nearby town is younger than Ballydehob
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballydehob | 345 | — | 55.1 | 29% | 27% |
| Bantry | 2,929 | 13.5 km | 43.5 | 22% | 32% |
| Skibbereen | 2,903 | 13.6 km | 39.2 | 17% | 37% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Cork’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Cork’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 Ballydehob’s residents
What is the population of Ballydehob?
Ballydehob had 345 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballydehob?
The median age is 55.1. 13% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballydehob?
39% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (122 people), and 1.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballydehob?
77% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 30% were born abroad and 18% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballydehob?
53% are Catholic, 33% have no religion and 14% another religion; 6.1% didn’t say.
Is Ballydehob good for families?
27% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 13% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballydehob are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballydehob?
Median gross household income in Ballydehob was €35,140 in 2022, against €60,670 across Co. Cork 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).