Holiday homes: 3.3%, a higher share than 93% of Irish towns
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of households of parents with children is 43%; Rathcoole has 53%. Residents aged 15 to 24: 17% of the total. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. The 2022 Census counted 218 residents in 81 households.
Slower growth than 86% of Irish towns: Rathcoole changed by +1% since 2016
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.
Younger than 77% of Irish towns: half of Rathcoole is under 35.3
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 11%, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. In Montenotte, the oldest of Co. Cork’s towns by this measure, it is 25%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
14% of residents 15 and over are students, a share 87% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
16% of workers are in process, plant and machine operatives, against a typical 7.8%. The wider picture: 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 4.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Bigger households than 67% of Irish towns: 2.8 people each on average
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.
Across Rathcoole, 25% of households are one person living alone.
Only 6.3% of households in Rathcoole 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
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. The benchmark for households without a car or van across Ireland’s towns: 17%. Broadband: 87% of households. No internet at all: 10% (typical: 7.6%).
Before tax, the median household income is €64,970 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 €64,970 gross, 8% more than the Ireland median (€60,120). That compares with €60,670 across Co. Cork.
22% of residents were born abroad
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.
The most common home language after English is Polish (7.8%); in all 17% speak another language, and 1.8% speak English not well or not at all. Residents with another country’s citizenship are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 15%.
0.5% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 96% 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
Ballincollig leads Co. Cork with 2.1%. Elsewhere, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Rathcoole ranks above 76% of Irish towns on residents who said they are Catholic: 76%
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: 76% of Rathcoole · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Across Ireland’s towns, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish; in Rathcoole, 76%. The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (17%), Black or Black Irish (5.1%) and Other, including mixed (1.9%). The benchmark for residents who said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns: 71%.
More unpaid carers than 99% of Irish towns: 9.2%
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.
Married residents 15 and over account for 34%. About 20 residents (9.2%) give regular unpaid care (Ireland’s towns 5.4%).
Only 27% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Rathcoole
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Still in education: 17% of residents 15 and over. The benchmark for adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns: 36%. 10% of Rathcoole’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 8.2% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%).
Every neighbour of Rathcoole has an older population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathcoole | 218 | — | 35.3 | 11% | 53% |
| Millstreet | 1,722 | 6.9 km | 41.3 | 18% | 38% |
| Kanturk | 2,803 | 10.6 km | 37.9 | 16% | 44% |
| Newmarket | 1,052 | 13.3 km | 48.6 | 28% | 33% |
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 Rathcoole’s residents
What is the population of Rathcoole?
Rathcoole had 218 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 1% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rathcoole?
The median age is 35.3. 28% are under 18 and 11% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rathcoole?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (74 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rathcoole?
76% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 22% were born abroad and 15% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rathcoole?
76% are Catholic, 19% have no religion and 5.6% another religion; 0.9% didn’t say.
Is Rathcoole good for families?
53% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 28% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rathcoole are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rathcoole?
Median gross household income in Rathcoole was €64,970 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).