Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0More holiday homes than 99% of Irish towns: 10%
Where 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns, Kinsale has 25%. One-person households account for 27%. At 3.4%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is lower than in nearly three quarters of Irish towns. A median age of 41.8 (older than 88% of Irish towns) sets Kinsale apart: 5,991 residents in 2,190 households at the 2022 Census.
What stands out about the people of Kinsale
One home in 10 is a holiday home
About 290 of 2,830 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (10%), more than in 99% of Irish towns; 8.1% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Kinsale’s residents are under 41.8 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 18% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Kinsale’s population changed by +12% since 2016, more than in 72% 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.
Medians for comparison: +8% across Ireland’s towns; +7% across Co. Cork’s towns.
Older than 88% of Irish towns: half of Kinsale is over 41.8
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 40–44: nearly one in ten residents. Higher than in four fifths of Irish towns: 18% of residents are 65 or over. With residents aged 15 to 24 at 10%, Kinsale is behind 95% of Irish towns on that count.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Kinsale, 41.8. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 11% in Kinsale, more than in 78% 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
Work here tilts toward professional occupations, at 27% against a typical 21%. Few places have so few students among residents 15 and over: 9.9% here, fewer than in 61% of Irish towns. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Ireland’s towns: 7.5%.
Kinsale households average 2.6 people, smaller than in 69% 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.
The share of households of parents with children stands at 43%.
Households without a car or van make up 13% in Kinsale, less than in 67% 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
90% have broadband at home and 7.4% no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Kinsale has more households in flats than 52% of Irish towns, at 13%. The comparison figure for households without a car or van is 17% across Ireland’s towns.
The median household brings in €56,940 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €56,940 a year before tax, the median household income is 5% under that of Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Cork, the figure is €60,670.
More residents born abroad than 68% of Irish towns: 27% in Kinsale
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.
17% are citizens of another country (Ireland’s towns 15%). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents born outside Ireland is 22%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the UK (8.6%) and outside the EU and UK (8%).
1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 56% 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
2,342 residents, 43% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of daily speakers of Irish outside education is 1.1%.
65% of residents said they are Catholic, below 74% 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: 77% of Kinsale · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (17%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.7%) and Other, including mixed (2.3%). To put it in context, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Kinsale has fewer residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 51% of Irish towns, at 77%.
Above 81% of Irish towns: 38% of residents 15 and over are married
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.
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 5.9%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Kinsale sits above 75% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (48%)
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 19% of adults; primary level or less for 7% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Measured more widely, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Ranked by age, 5th oldest of 41 towns this size
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 Kinsale in age: Harmonstown (41.6), Ayrfield (41.7), Carrick-on-Suir (42.1) and Ballinlough (44.1).
Every nearby town is younger than Kinsale
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsale | 5,991 | — | 41.8 | 18% | 43% |
| Inishannon | 1,043 | 11.6 km | 38.9 | 11% | 53% |
| Carrigaline | 18,239 | 15.2 km | 36.6 | 9.6% | 58% |
| Bandon | 8,196 | 15.5 km | 38 | 13% | 46% |
| Lehenagh | 4,154 | 17.7 km | 35.1 | 9.7% | 54% |
| Frankfield and Grange | 7,687 | 18.1 km | 37.1 | 11% | 51% |
| Inishkenny | 5,552 | 18.3 km | 33.6 | 9.9% | 41% |
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 Kinsale’s residents
What is the population of Kinsale?
Kinsale had 5,991 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 12% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Kinsale?
The median age is 41.8, older than 88% of Irish towns. 24% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Kinsale?
43% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (2,342 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Kinsale?
77% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 27% were born abroad and 17% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Kinsale?
65% are Catholic, 25% have no religion and 11% another religion; 5.8% didn’t say.
Is Kinsale good for families?
43% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Kinsale are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Kinsale?
Median gross household income in Kinsale was €56,940 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).