Photo: Seighean · Public domain77% of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 78% of Irish towns
The median age in Fermoy is 38.9, higher than in nearly two thirds of Irish towns. Census day 2022: 6,720 residents and 2,590 households in the town. The census found that 28% of households are one person living alone here. The typical household size is 2.6 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns.
Since 2016, Fermoy has changed by +6%, slower than 58% 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.
12% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 57% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: 8.3% of residents. 14% of residents are 65 or over, a higher share than in 51% 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+
■ Fermoy, 38.9. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 5.8%, a lower share than 75% 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
Where 7.8% is typical, process, plant and machine operatives take in 15% of workers. Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.5% across Ireland’s towns.
Fermoy sits below 55% of Irish towns for households of parents with children (42%)
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.
In Fermoy, 4.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. To put it in context, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns.
Fermoy sits below 63% of Irish towns for households in flats (10%)
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
85% have broadband at home and 12% no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Across Fermoy, 0.1% of homes are holiday homes. Households without a car or van are more common here than in 55% of Irish towns.
Median household income: €49,610 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€49,610 a year before tax puts the median household 17% below Ireland (€60,120). Co. Cork comes in at €60,670 at the median.
A higher share of residents with another country’s citizenship than 81% of Irish towns, at 22%
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.
28% of residents were born abroad, against 19% across Co. Cork’s towns and 22% across Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born in Poland (9.3%) and outside the EU and UK (7.6%).
37% of Fermoy’s residents can speak Irish
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 2,247, or 37% of residents aged 3 and over. On daily speakers of Irish outside education, Fermoy sits lower than 74% of Irish towns: 0.8%.
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 71%, a lower share than 73% 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: 71% of Fermoy · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (21%), Other, including mixed (2.6%) and Black or Black Irish (2.1%). Few places have so few residents with no religion: 14% here, fewer than in 73% of Irish towns. Typically, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
35% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 58% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
In Fermoy, 5.3% of residents give unpaid care. 54% of the town’s residents 15 and over are single and 35% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
Fewer adults with a degree or higher than 73% of Irish towns: 27%
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 nearly one in ten adults here, while 12% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Elsewhere, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The 14th oldest of 41 towns of 5,768 to 7,687 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 25.6 in Gillabbey to 45.4 in Sutton. Nearest to Fermoy in age: Kells (38.4), Ballinasloe (38.5), Passage West-Monkstown (39.6) and Walkinstown (39.7).
Of the 4 towns nearest Fermoy, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fermoy | 6,720 | — | 38.9 | 14% | 42% |
| Kilworth | 1,179 | 5.1 km | 36.3 | 12% | 51% |
| Rathcormac | 1,957 | 6.9 km | 34.7 | 5.2% | 57% |
| Mitchelstown | 3,744 | 14.3 km | 41.7 | 19% | 42% |
| Watergrasshill | 1,840 | 14.8 km | 33.1 | 4.6% | 62% |
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 Fermoy’s residents
What is the population of Fermoy?
Fermoy had 6,720 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Fermoy?
The median age is 38.9, older than 66% of Irish towns. 23% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Fermoy?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (2,247 people), and 0.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Fermoy?
71% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 28% were born abroad and 22% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Fermoy?
77% are Catholic, 14% have no religion and 9.6% another religion; 7.1% didn’t say.
Is Fermoy good for families?
42% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Fermoy are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fermoy?
Median gross household income in Fermoy was €49,610 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).