Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0Castletownbere is older than 99% of Irish towns: a median age of 45.7
Against a figure of 0.2% across Ireland’s towns, the share of holiday homes in Castletownbere comes in at 7.9%. The 2022 Census counted 999 residents in 447 households. Here, just over a third of households are parents with children. Higher than in 98% of Irish towns: 37% of households are one person living alone.
Growth of +9% since 2016 puts Castletownbere ahead of 57% 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.
Elsewhere, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +7% across Co. Cork’s towns.
Castletownbere: 23% of residents are 65 or over, above 95% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up one in ten residents, against 12% across Ireland’s towns. More residents are 45–49 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. Set beside that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
Fewer students among residents 15 and over than 84% of Irish towns: 8.6%
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
By occupation, skilled trades are over-represented: 23%, against a typical 11%. On average, 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%.
Castletownbere households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 95% 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.
4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
23% of households have no car or van, more than in 73% 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
84% have broadband at home and 11% no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Set beside that, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns. In Castletownbere, 15% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Half of households earn more than €41,800 a year
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 €41,800 sits 30% below Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Cork the median is €60,670.
Castletownbere: 33% of residents were born outside Ireland, above 86% 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 40%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
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 elsewhere in the EU (17%) and in the UK (8.2%). Residents with another country’s citizenship are more common here than in 87% of Irish towns. Against that, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 99% of Irish towns, at 0.4%
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
348 residents, 38% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Measured more widely, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns. The highest share in Co. Cork belongs to Ballincollig (2.1%).
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 76% of Irish towns: 70%
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: 70% of Castletownbere · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (26%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.3%) and Other, including mixed (2%). Elsewhere, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Three quarters of residents said they are Catholic, a higher share than in 71% of Irish towns. Against a figure of 17% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Castletownbere comes in at 16%.
6.8% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 95% 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.
The census found that just over a third of residents 15 and over are married in Castletownbere. About 70 residents (6.8%) give regular unpaid care (Ireland’s towns 5.4%).
Castletownbere sits below 79% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (24%)
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate qualifications are held by 8% of adults here, while 14% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). To put it in context, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
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 Castletownbere’s residents
What is the population of Castletownbere?
Castletownbere had 999 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Castletownbere?
The median age is 45.7. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Castletownbere?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (348 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Castletownbere?
70% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 33% were born abroad and 26% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Castletownbere?
75% are Catholic, 16% have no religion and 9.5% another religion; 4.2% didn’t say.
Is Castletownbere good for families?
34% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 20% of residents are under 18. Schools near Castletownbere are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Castletownbere?
Median gross household income in Castletownbere was €41,800 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).