Photo: Ian Watson · CC0More people live alone than in 98% of Irish towns: 38% of households
Households average 2.3 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Skibbereen’s 1,249 households held 2,903 residents at the 2022 Census. The share of holiday homes stands at 2.5%. On residents who describe themselves as White Irish, Skibbereen sits lower than 79% of Irish towns: 69%.
A growing town: +13% since 2016, faster than 78% 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.
Skibbereen sits below 92% of Irish towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (10%)
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 17%, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. The largest age band is 35–39: nearly one in ten residents. The median age in Skibbereen is 39.2, higher than in 68% of Irish towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Skibbereen, 39.2. 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.
Skibbereen sits below 94% of Irish towns for students among residents 15 and over (7.9%)
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
The occupation that stands out is skilled trades: 19%, where 11% is typical. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 10% in Skibbereen.
Households of parents with children make up 37% in Skibbereen, less than in 76% 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.
4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. The share of households of parents with children across Ireland’s towns is 43%.
17% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 69% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
14% of households have no internet access (typical: 7.6%); 84% have broadband. On households without a car or van, Skibbereen sits higher than 67% of Irish towns: 21%. As a yardstick, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
Half of households earn more than €37,100 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Gross household income has a median of €37,100 a year here, 38% below Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Cork as a whole, the figure is €60,670.
24% of residents are citizens of another country, more than in 84% 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 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.
Residents born abroad were most often born elsewhere in the EU (11%), then in the UK (8.7%). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is 15%. More residents born outside Ireland than in 78% of Irish towns: 29%.
Irish: 40% of Skibbereen’s residents can speak it
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
Some 1,046 people here, 40% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. In Co. Cork, Ballincollig has the highest share (2.1%). Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.1%, near enough the figure across Ireland’s towns.
22% of residents said they have no religion, a share 74% of Irish towns don’t reach
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: 69% of Skibbereen · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White Irish, the biggest groups are Other White (24%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.9%) and Other, including mixed (1.8%). Across Ireland’s towns, residents with no religion come to 17%. 65% of residents said they are Catholic, a lower share than in 74% of Irish towns.
30% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 78% 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.
Unpaid carers account for 5.5%. 56% of Skibbereen’s residents 15 and over are single and 30% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
Below 79% of Irish towns: 24% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Skibbereen’s adults, 7.6% went on to postgraduate study and 10% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). The share of adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns is 36%.
Of 41 towns its size (2,557 to 3,263 people), the 16th oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Kilbarry is the youngest (30.4); Ballybrack the oldest (45.5). Nearest to Skibbereen in age: Moate (39), Kylemore (39), Mayfield (39.3) and Carna (39.5).
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 Skibbereen’s residents
What is the population of Skibbereen?
Skibbereen had 2,903 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 13% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Skibbereen?
The median age is 39.2, older than 68% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Skibbereen?
40% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,046 people), and 1.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Skibbereen?
69% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 29% were born abroad and 24% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Skibbereen?
65% are Catholic, 22% have no religion and 13% another religion; 7.4% didn’t say.
Is Skibbereen good for families?
37% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Skibbereen are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Skibbereen?
Median gross household income in Skibbereen was €37,100 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).