Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 5,112 residents in Co. Cork. Between 2016 and 2022, its population grew by 11%.
Good on most counts; one lags. Where it does best is jobs & income (A−): the unemployment rate is 7%, with 71% of 15 to 64s in work. Overall, Clonakilty earns an A−: better than 83% of Irish towns, and #56 of 320 Irish towns. Safety is a strength too (A−): violent crime runs at 4.2 per 1,000 residents a year, burglary and criminal damage at 2.5. The drawback is health — for every 100 its ages would predict, 145 residents are in bad health and 112 have a disability. Hazard risk is weaker too: an estimated 6% of its homes exceed the radon reference level. A typical home sold for €360,000, or 7.3 years of the town’s median household income.
Figures: work and health, CSO Census 2022 · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · radon, EPA · prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO.
The 3 things Clonakilty does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Clonakilty with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
16 archaeological sites are on the record here too.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3% in the median of Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Clonakilty.
On average, the journey to work lasts 21.6 min. 7.4% of the labour force were unemployed, below both Co. Cork’s towns (8%) and Irish towns (9.2%). Household income averages €49,434 a year before tax.
| Census 2022 | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trips under 15 minutes | 56% | 33% | 31% |
| Average trip | 21.6 min | 24.8 min | 27.6 min |
| Median household income | €49,434 | €54,720 | €57,760 |
| In work, 15 to 64 | 71% | 69% | 68% |
CSO, Census 2022 travel to work, work and education · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · Live Register · Census day was 3 April 2022, with working from home still common; shares are of those who travelled.
In 2023–2025, assaults and harassment led the graded crimes in Clonakilty. Every kind together came to 28.5 per 1,000 residents a year, below Co. Cork’s towns (44.2) and Irish towns (54.3) alike.
Not in the gradeTheft, public order and offences found by Garda checks (drugs, road traffic, dangerous acts) are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence, burglary and damage.
| Per 1,000 a year | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 2.5 | 4.9 | 6.4 |
| All recorded crime | 28.5 | 44.2 | 54.3 |
| Theft | 4.1 | 10.3 | 15.3 |
| Violent crime | 4.2 | 6 | 5.7 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
0.9% of homes stand on ground with high landslide susceptibility, near Co. Cork’s towns (0.4%) and higher than Irish towns (0%). Inchydoney East Beach, 3.6 km from Clonakilty, is the closest bathing water; it was rated excellent in 2025.
| Share of homes | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 27% | 2.1% | 0.5% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0.9% | 0.4% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Just over a quarter of residents have a disability, above Co. Cork’s towns (24%) and Irish towns (22%) alike. Weighed against its ages, disability in the town runs at 112 per 100 expected.
| Census 2022 | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad or very bad health | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| With a disability | 26% | 24% | 22% |
| Good or very good health | 87% | 88% | 88% |
| Unpaid carers | 6% | 5.9% | 5.4% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Clonakilty Community College is the nearest secondary school, 0.5 km away. Families locally have 6 schools within 3 km to choose from: 4 primary schools and 2 secondary schools. Single-sex secondaries: 50%, above Co. Cork’s towns (44%) and Irish towns (39%) alike.
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaelscoil Mhichíl Uí Choileáin GaelscoilLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 388 | Multi-denominational |
| Clonakilty Community College Irish streamLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 696 | Inter-denominational |
| Schools within 3 km | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 40% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 17% | 9% | 8% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | +6% | +1% | +4% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 50% | 44% | 39% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
Social housing holds 17% of households, higher than both Co. Cork’s towns (14%) and Irish towns (13%). A buyer in Clonakilty paid 56% more for a typical home in 2025 than in 2010: €390K against €250K. Home ownership stands at 54% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| New homes | €380,000 | 131 |
| Second-hand homes | €300,000 | 259 |
| The last 12 months | €390,000 | 89 |
| Housing | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households renting privately | 27% | 21% | 22% |
| Households owning their home | 54% | 60% | 61% |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,244 | €1,291 | €1,606 |
| Households in social housing | 17% | 14% | 13% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
The year’s mean temperature is 11.1°C, above Co. Cork’s towns (10.8°C) and Irish towns (10.3°C) alike. On a January night, the temperature in Clonakilty falls to about 4.4°C. This Co. Cork town sees July afternoons of 19.5°C on average.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 4.4°C | 3.5°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 1,380 mm | 1,114 mm | 937 mm |
| Average temperature over the year | 11.1°C | 10.8°C | 10.3°C |
| July high | 19.5°C | 20.0°C | 19.9°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Its paths and tracks come to 0.3 km per km², lower than both Co. Cork’s towns (1.8 km per km²) and Irish towns (2.1 km per km²). Among the protected sites near Clonakilty is Clonakilty Bay SAC. 4 parks, 5 ha of green space: that is the measure of the town’s parkland.
| Outdoors | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near a park | 70% | 91% | 92% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.3 km per km² | 1.8 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Sea within 5 km | 7.1% | 0% | 0% |
| Woodland within 1 km | 1.8% | 4.2% | 2.7% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Expect about 1 mm of rain with it today, the wind at 41 km/h and a low of 7°C. The heaviest rain of the week is due on Tuesday, around 23 mm. For Clonakilty, a normal November afternoon peaks at 12°C, and a normal night bottoms out at 7°C.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 10°C | 5°C | 422 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 7°C | 276 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 12°C | 289 mm |
| Autumn | 15°C | 9°C | 395 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
10% of residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Co. Cork’s towns (12%) and Irish towns (12%). The 65-and-over age group makes up 18% of residents. The under-15s are 20% of the population here.
52.6% of Clonakilty’s residents are women
2,688 women and 2,424 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 19% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 29% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 25% | 24% |
| 65+ | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 10% | 7.9% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 12% | 14% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 36% | 34% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 6.3% | 5.9% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 36% | 38% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Cork and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
At the general election 64% voted, above Co. Cork’s towns (58%) and Irish towns (59%) alike. Cork County Council has no ruling majority: Fianna Fáil hold 19 of its 55 seats, short of the 28 needed. Local government for Clonakilty is Cork County Council alone; Ireland has a single tier.
| Turnout | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 56% | 45% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 64% | 58% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
Clonakilty has 340 inventory buildings for every 10,000 residents. Just over a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, above both Co. Cork’s towns (7.7%) and Irish towns (3.4%). Beneath and around the town lie 16 recorded archaeological sites.
| Heritage | Clonakilty | Co. Cork | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 340 | 100 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 11.5% | 7.7% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 16 | 9 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Clonakilty. Best known first.
Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 174 buildings in Clonakilty, 1 of national or international importance. 16 recorded monuments and archaeological sites lie here.
32 notable people were born in Clonakilty.
Michael Collins: Agence de presse Meurisse, Public domain · Liam Twomey: Communications Unit of Oireachtas, CC BY 2.0 · William O'Brien: Irish Labour Party, CC BY 3.0 · Mary O'Donovan Rossa: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain · Timothy Anglin: William James Topley, Public domain
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clonakilty | 5,112 | — | A− | B | A− | C− |
| Bandon | 8,196 | 17 | A | B+ | A− | B− |
| Dunmanway | 1,964 | 19 | — | A+ | A | A− |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Clonakilty had 5,112 people at the 2022 census, up from 4,619 in 2016: 10.7% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Clonakilty is 40.5, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
Urban area in Co. Cork
Clonakilty has 5,112 people, in the area of Cork County Council. TownRatings uses the CSO’s 2022 Urban Areas as Ireland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a county or a council area, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from Tailte Éireann’s boundaries and the CSO’s Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0)
Sources: CSO, Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics (CC BY 4.0) · Tailte Éireann, Urban Areas and Electoral Divisions 2022 (CC BY 4.0) · TownRatings grades, run #544 (Irish towns only). 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).