Photo: Jeff Horne · CC BY-SA 2.0Holiday homes make up 4.8% in Clonakilty, more than in 95% of Irish towns
The median age in Clonakilty is 40.5, higher than in 81% of Irish towns. In 2022, the Census found 5,112 residents locally, living in 1,864 households. Here, 30% of households are one person living alone. The average household has 2.5 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns.
What stands out about the people of Clonakilty
A town people move to
14% of residents lived somewhere else a year before the Census, 1.9 times the share across Ireland’s towns; 2.6% came from abroad. Social class & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A growing town: +11% since 2016, faster than 68% 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.
Across Co. Cork’s towns the median is +7%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
18% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 80% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails 90% of Irish towns: 10%. The largest age band is 40–44: 8.2% of residents. As a yardstick, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Clonakilty, 40.5. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
14% of residents moved in within a year, more than in 89% 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
Students among residents 15 and over are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 9.6%. For comparison, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
Clonakilty ranks below 75% of Irish towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.3%
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.
Clonakilty has more households of parents with children than 53% of Irish towns, at 43%. Across the comparison, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns.
15% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 61% 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
Internet at home: broadband for 85%, nothing for 12% (typical: 7.6%). The census found that 18% of households have no car or van in Clonakilty.
Before tax, the median household income is €49,430 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€49,430 a year before tax puts the median household 18% below Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Cork, the middle household has €60,670.
Clonakilty: 27% of residents were born outside Ireland, above 70% 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 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.
Most residents from abroad were born outside the EU and UK (8.4%) or in the UK (6.9%). Higher than in 68% of Irish towns: 19% of residents are citizens of another country. Residents born outside Ireland: 22% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Daily speakers of Irish outside education make up 1.5% in Clonakilty, more than in 77% of Irish towns
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 2,043, or 43% of residents aged 3 and over. Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.1% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. In Co. Cork, Ballincollig has the highest share (2.1%).
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish make up 75% in Clonakilty, less than in 62% 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: 75% of Clonakilty · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 71% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic in Clonakilty comes in at 69%. Measured more widely, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. 19% of residents said they have no religion.
Clonakilty ranks above 52% of Irish towns on married residents 15 and over: 35%
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.
On unpaid carers, 6% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
36% of adults hold a degree or higher
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 12% of adults; primary level or less for 10% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Adults with a degree or higher are more common here than in 50% of Irish towns.
The 8th oldest of 41 towns of 4,569 to 5,752 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Dangan is the youngest (27.5); Fair Hill the oldest (44.9). Nearest to Clonakilty in age: Tipperary (40.3), Salthill (40.4), Garryowen (40.9) and Tramore (41.1).
1 of the 2 nearest towns are older than Clonakilty
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
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 Clonakilty’s residents
What is the population of Clonakilty?
Clonakilty had 5,112 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 11% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Clonakilty?
The median age is 40.5, older than 81% of Irish towns. 24% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Clonakilty?
43% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (2,043 people), and 1.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Clonakilty?
75% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 27% were born abroad and 19% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Clonakilty?
69% are Catholic, 19% have no religion and 12% another religion; 4.5% didn’t say.
Is Clonakilty good for families?
43% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Clonakilty are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Clonakilty?
Median gross household income in Clonakilty was €49,430 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).