Photo: Kondephy · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 50: Schull is older than 99% of Irish towns
The typical household size is 2.1 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Schull’s 283 households held 669 residents at the 2022 Census. Holiday homes: 39% of the total. 31% of residents said they have no religion, a higher share than in 93% of Irish towns.
Schull’s population moved +6% on 2016, less than in 57% 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.
Across Co. Cork’s towns the median is +7%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 26%, a higher share than 99% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with nearly one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns. On residents aged 15 to 24, Schull sits lower than four fifths of Irish towns: 11%. As a reference point, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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: 9.3%, a higher share than 71% 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
On students among residents 15 and over, 9.3% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns. The benchmark for residents who moved in within the year across Ireland’s towns: 7.5%.
A higher share of one-person households than 99% of Irish towns, at 39%
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.
Against a figure of 43% across Ireland’s towns, the share of households of parents with children in Schull comes in at 33%. What’s more, 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 94% of Irish towns. For one-person households, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 24%.
Schull sits below 69% of Irish towns for households without a car or van (12%)
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 in flats stands at 11%. Every 8th household or so has no car or van.
Half of households earn more than €37,480 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €37,480 a year, 38% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Cork as a whole has a median of €60,670.
Schull: 25% of residents born outside Ireland
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.
At home, 11% use another language, chiefly Polish (0.9%), and 1.8% speak English not well or not at all. More residents with another country’s citizenship than in 62% of Irish towns: 17%. By way of comparison, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
Schull ranks above 81% of Irish towns on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.6%
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
231 residents, 37% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Across Ireland’s towns, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education.
Schull ranks below 83% of Irish towns on residents who said they are Catholic: 59%
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: 78% of Schull · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (18%), Other, including mixed (2%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.8%). Residents who describe themselves as White Irish are rarer here than in 50% of Irish towns. Elsewhere, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
Unpaid carers make up 7.2% in Schull, more than in 97% 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.
The share of married residents 15 and over stands at 34%. Measured more widely, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Degree or higher: 36% of adults
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, just over one in ten adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 12% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. On adults with a degree or higher, Schull sits lower than 50% of Irish towns: 36%.
The places around Schull
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schull | 669 | — | 50 | 26% | 33% |
| Bantry | 2,929 | 18.5 km | 43.5 | 22% | 32% |
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 Schull’s residents
What is the population of Schull?
Schull had 669 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Schull?
The median age is 50. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Schull?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (231 people), and 1.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Schull?
78% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 25% were born abroad and 17% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Schull?
59% are Catholic, 31% have no religion and 9.5% another religion; 3.7% didn’t say.
Is Schull good for families?
33% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 17% of residents are under 18. Schools near Schull are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Schull?
Median gross household income in Schull was €37,480 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).