Photo: Joseph Mischyshyn · CC BY-SA 2.0In Blarney, 89% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, more than in 92% of Irish towns
Against a figure of 17% across Ireland’s towns, the share of households without a car or van in Blarney comes in at 8.8%. At the 2022 Census, 2,779 people lived locally, in 1,003 households. Across Blarney, 18% of residents are 65 or over. Lower than in 68% of Irish towns: 3.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
What stands out about the people of Blarney
Many carers
About 210 residents (7.7%) give regular unpaid care, more than in 99% of Irish towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Older than 75% of Irish towns: half of Blarney is over 39.6
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 35–39: 8.2% of residents. 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 80% of Irish towns. In Montenotte, the oldest of Co. Cork’s towns by this measure, it is 25%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Blarney, 39.6. The typical town is 37.6.
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%.
A lower share of students among residents 15 and over than 90% of Irish towns, at 8.3%
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
Among workers, professional occupations stand out: 26%, against a typical 21%. Measured more widely, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 7.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Below 65% of Irish towns: 21% of households are one person living alone
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.
Households average 2.7 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Here, 44% of households are parents with children. One-person households make up 24% across Ireland’s towns.
Few flats: only 8.6% of households in Blarney live in one
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
91% of households are on broadband; 7.5% have no internet connection (typical: 7.6%). Holiday homes are more common here than in 58% of Irish towns. Households in flats make up 12% across Ireland’s towns.
The median household brings in €67,310 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €67,310 gross, 12% more than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Cork comes in at €60,670 at the median.
Fewer residents born outside Ireland than 87% of Irish towns: 15%
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.
11% speak a language other than English at home, Polish most of all (2%); 1.1% speak English not well or not at all. On residents with another country’s citizenship, Blarney sits lower than 86% of Irish towns: 8.2%. For residents born outside Ireland, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 22%.
Blarney sits above 77% of Irish towns for daily speakers of Irish outside education (1.5%)
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
Some 1,190 people here, 47% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. The highest share in Co. Cork belongs to Ballincollig (2.1%). The comparison figure for daily speakers of Irish outside education is 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
Above 90% of Irish towns: 80% of residents said they are Catholic
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: 89% of Blarney · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (7.8%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.1%) and Other, including mixed (0.8%). Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 62% of Irish towns. Measured more widely, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over make up 40% in Blarney, more than in 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.
7.7% of residents give unpaid care (Ireland’s towns: 5.4%). The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Blarney ranks above 52% of Irish towns on adults with a degree or higher: 37%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
14% of Blarney’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 9.3% 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%.
Ranked by age, 12th oldest of 41 towns this size
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Kilbarry (30.4) and the oldest Ballybrack (45.5). Nearest to Blarney in age: Carna (39.5), Ballina (39.6), Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) (39.8) and Kenmare (40.3).
1 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Blarney
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blarney | 2,779 | — | 39.6 | 18% | 44% |
| Tower | 3,300 | 3.1 km | 39.4 | 13% | 54% |
| Hollyhill and Ballincolly | 8,606 | 4.9 km | 35.7 | 11% | 55% |
| Knocknaheeny | 5,592 | 5.5 km | 39.3 | 16% | 44% |
| Shanakiel | 3,804 | 5.6 km | 36.3 | 14% | 40% |
| Fair Hill | 4,910 | 5.8 km | 44.9 | 21% | 41% |
| Ballincollig | 21,940 | 6.2 km | 38.1 | 14% | 49% |
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 Blarney’s residents
What is the population of Blarney?
Blarney had 2,779 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area.
What is the average age in Blarney?
The median age is 39.6, older than 75% of Irish towns. 23% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Blarney?
47% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,190 people), and 1.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Blarney?
89% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 8.2% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Blarney?
80% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 4.6% another religion; 4.4% didn’t say.
Is Blarney good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Blarney are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Blarney?
Median gross household income in Blarney was €67,310 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).