Photo: Nigel Cox · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 97% of Irish towns: half of Ballydesmond is over 44.1
Where 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns, Ballydesmond has 88%. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 216, in 95 households. The census found that 1.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in the town. At 31%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 84% of Irish towns.
Ballydesmond changed by +1% from 2016 to 2022, behind 88% 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 +7% across Co. Cork’s towns.
A higher share of residents aged 65 and over than 94% of Irish towns, at 22%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (9.3%), Ballydesmond is below 97% of Irish towns. The wider picture: 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%.
Ballydesmond ranks below 99% of Irish towns on students among residents 15 and over: 6.1%
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
The biggest occupational gap is in process, plant and machine operatives: 16%, against a typical 7.8%. As a reference point, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. 3.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Ballydesmond households average 2.3 people, smaller than in 93% 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.
Against a figure of 43% across Ireland’s towns, the share of households of parents with children in Ballydesmond comes in at 44%.
Fewer households in flats than 95% of Irish towns: 3.2%
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
Holiday homes are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 0.9%. On average, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. Across Ballydesmond, 14% of households have no car or van.
€50,080 a year: where the middle household sits
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Ballydesmond’s households have a gross income below €50,080 a year, 17% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Cork has a median of €60,670.
Only 16% of residents were born outside Ireland in Ballydesmond
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.
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in Poland (11%) and in the UK (3.3%). The share of residents born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns is 22%. Against a figure of 15% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship in Ballydesmond comes in at 14%.
Ballydesmond ranks below 96% of Irish towns on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.5%
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
Irish speakers number 65, or 31% of residents aged 3 and over. The share of daily speakers of Irish outside education across Ireland’s towns is 1.1%.
Only 8.5% of residents said they have no religion in Ballydesmond
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: 86% of Ballydesmond · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 78% across Ireland’s towns, 86% of residents describe themselves as White Irish here. The usual figure: 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
Unpaid carers: 8.3%, a higher share than 99% 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.
Married residents 15 and over: 42%, above 94% of Irish towns. By way of comparison, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
21% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 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
Primary level or earlier: 15%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. By way of comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Postgraduate: 3.3% of adults.
Of the 3 towns nearest Ballydesmond, 1 are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballydesmond | 216 | — | 44.1 | 22% | 44% |
| Castleisland | 2,536 | 16.5 km | 42.4 | 20% | 42% |
| Newmarket | 1,052 | 16.5 km | 48.6 | 28% | 33% |
| Millstreet | 1,722 | 18.2 km | 41.3 | 18% | 38% |
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 Ballydesmond’s residents
What is the population of Ballydesmond?
Ballydesmond had 216 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Ballydesmond?
The median age is 44.1. 19% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballydesmond?
31% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (65 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballydesmond?
86% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 16% were born abroad and 14% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballydesmond?
88% are Catholic, 8.5% have no religion and 3.3% another religion; 2.3% didn’t say.
Is Ballydesmond good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 19% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballydesmond are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballydesmond?
Median gross household income in Ballydesmond was €50,080 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).