Photo: Wanfried-Dublin · CC BY 4.0Half of Rosscarbery is over 45.5, older than 99% of Irish towns
31% of homes are holiday homes, against 0.2% across Ireland’s towns. There were 264 households in Rosscarbery at the 2022 Census, home to 638 residents. The share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish stands at 89%. On one-person households, Rosscarbery sits higher than 98% of Irish towns: 38%.
A +17% change since 2016: Rosscarbery grew faster than 84% 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.
Above 97% of Irish towns: 24% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Across Ireland’s towns, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24; in Rosscarbery, 8.8%. The usual figure: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
Below 89% of Irish towns: 8.4% of residents 15 and over are students
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, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Rosscarbery, 43% and 10%. Few places have as many residents who moved in within the year: 8.2% here, more than in 62% of Irish towns.
2.3 people per household, fewer than in 93% 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.
Households of parents with children: 34% here and 43% across Ireland’s towns. 4.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a lower share than in 53% of Irish towns.
Rosscarbery ranks below 72% of Irish towns on households in flats: 8.3%
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
With households without a car or van at 12%, Rosscarbery is behind 71% of Irish towns on that count.
Before tax, the median household income is €56,330 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of households are below €56,330 a year before tax: 6% under the Ireland median (€60,120). County median: €60,670 (Co. Cork).
15% of residents were born outside Ireland, fewer than in 85% 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 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.
8.4% of residents are citizens of another country; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 15%. The wider picture: just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born in the UK (7.8%) and outside the EU and UK (3.2%).
47% of Rosscarbery’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
Within Co. Cork, Ballincollig has the largest share, 2.1%. Few places have as many daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.3% here, more than in two thirds of Irish towns.
Rosscarbery: 76% of residents said they are Catholic, above 77% 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: 89% of Rosscarbery · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion make up 19%, against 17% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is 71%. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (8.6%), Other, including mixed (1.2%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.8%).
Unpaid carers: 7.8%, a higher share than 99% 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.
Compared with 34% across Ireland’s towns, 38% of residents 15 and over are married here. As a reference point, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
39% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, a share 58% of Irish towns don’t reach
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, 11% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 7.8% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. By way of comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The towns around Rosscarbery are all younger
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosscarbery | 638 | — | 45.5 | 24% | 34% |
| Clonakilty | 5,112 | 11.0 km | 40.5 | 18% | 43% |
| Skibbereen | 2,903 | 16.3 km | 39.2 | 17% | 37% |
| Dunmanway | 1,964 | 17.1 km | 40.8 | 17% | 42% |
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 Rosscarbery’s residents
What is the population of Rosscarbery?
Rosscarbery had 638 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 17% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rosscarbery?
The median age is 45.5. 19% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rosscarbery?
47% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (283 people), and 1.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rosscarbery?
89% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 8.4% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rosscarbery?
76% are Catholic, 19% have no religion and 5% another religion; 3% didn’t say.
Is Rosscarbery good for families?
34% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 19% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rosscarbery are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rosscarbery?
Median gross household income in Rosscarbery was €56,330 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).