Photo: Clint Mann · CC BY-SA 2.0Macroom sits below 86% of Irish towns for residents with no religion (12%)
Here 30% of households are one person living alone, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 24%. In 2022, the Census found 4,096 residents in Macroom, living in 1,533 households. On the census count, 7.5% of households live in a flat or apartment. Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than in 81% of Irish towns: 3.1%.
From 2016 to 2022, Macroom outgrew 69% of Irish towns: +11%
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%.
Half of Macroom is over 38.4, older than 59% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
11% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (Ireland’s towns: 12%). The biggest five-year age group is 40–44, with 9.2% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are common here: 14%, more than in 55% of Irish towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Macroom, 38.4. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
A higher share of residents who moved in within the year than 82% of Irish towns, at 12%
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
Across Ireland’s towns, just over a third of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Macroom, 32% and 18%. The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 7.5% across Ireland’s towns.
2.6 people per household, fewer 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.
With households of parents with children at 45%, Macroom is ahead of 63% of Irish towns on that count.
Only 15% of households in Macroom have no car or van
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
The share of households with broadband is 83%; 14% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). One household in every 7 has no car or van. At 0.4%, the share of holiday homes is higher than in nearly two thirds of Irish towns.
Before tax, the median household income is €50,690 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €50,690 gross, 16% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Cork’s median household income is €60,670.
Macroom ranks above 69% of Irish towns on residents with another country’s citizenship: 19%
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 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
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.
Against a figure of 22% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents born outside Ireland in Macroom comes in at 26%. Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 15% across Ireland’s towns. 23% speak another language at home, most often Polish (9.9%); 3.4% speak English not well or not at all.
1.8% of residents speak Irish every day outside education
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
The ability to speak Irish extends to 1,576 residents (42% of those aged 3 and over). Across the comparison, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of residents who said they are Catholic than 86% of Irish towns: 79%
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 Macroom · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
75% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, against 81% across Co. Cork’s towns and 78% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (16%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.6%) and Other, including mixed (2.6%). As a reference point, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over: 35%, a higher share than 53% 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.
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 4.6%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of adults with a degree or higher than 60% of Irish towns, at 31%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Macroom’s adults, 9.9% went on to postgraduate study and 7.9% left 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.
Ranked by age, 15th oldest of 41 towns this size
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Dangan (27.5) and the oldest Montenotte (46.5). Nearest to Macroom in age: Farranree (38.1), Charleville (38.2), Kill (38.5) and Westbury (38.5).
The places around Macroom
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macroom | 4,096 | — | 38.4 | 14% | 45% |
| Millstreet | 1,722 | 18.0 km | 41.3 | 18% | 38% |
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 Macroom’s residents
What is the population of Macroom?
Macroom had 4,096 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 11% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Macroom?
The median age is 38.4, older than 59% of Irish towns. 26% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Macroom?
42% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,576 people), and 1.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Macroom?
75% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 26% were born abroad and 19% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Macroom?
79% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 9.7% another religion; 3.3% didn’t say.
Is Macroom good for families?
45% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Macroom are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Macroom?
Median gross household income in Macroom was €50,690 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).