Photo: David Hawgood · CC BY-SA 2.01.1% of households live in a flat or apartment, below 98% of Irish towns
Just over four in five residents said they are Catholic (Ireland’s towns: 71%). On one-person households, Tower sits lower than just over three quarters of Irish towns: 18%. The 2022 Census counted 3,300 residents in 1,135 households. Locally, 2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
What stands out about the people of Tower
A student town
14% of residents aged 15 and over are students, more than in 88% of Irish towns; Ireland’s towns 10%. 15% of residents are 15 to 24. Social class & newcomers ↓
A town of families
45% of households are couples with children and 9.3% lone parents with children, more than in 90% of Irish towns; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
In Tower, 15% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 86% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
With a median age of 39.4, Tower is older than 71% of Irish towns. The census found that 13% of residents are 65 or over in the town. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. In Montenotte, the oldest of Co. Cork’s towns by this measure, it is 25%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Tower, 39.4. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
Tower sits above 88% of Irish towns for students among residents 15 and over (14%)
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 Tower, 45% and 13%. 4.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
A higher share of households of parents with children than 90% of Irish towns, at 54%
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.
A household here has 3 people on average; across Ireland’s towns, 2.7. Elsewhere, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns.
5.4% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 94% of Irish towns
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 holiday homes stands at 0.2%. Elsewhere, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
The median household brings in €74,110 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €74,110 sits 23% above Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Cork as a whole, the figure is €60,670.
Fewer residents born abroad than 90% of Irish towns: 13%
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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the UK (4.3%) and elsewhere in the EU (3.1%). Tower has fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 89% of Irish towns, at 7.7%. Typically, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
Tower ranks below 82% of Irish towns on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.7%
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
No town in Co. Cork beats Ballincollig (2.1%). The share of daily speakers of Irish outside education across Ireland’s towns is 1.1%.
More residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 91% of Irish towns: 88%
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: 88% of Tower · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White Irish come Other White (8.2%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.7%) and Other, including mixed (1.2%). Few places have so few residents with no religion: 15% here, fewer than in two thirds of Irish towns. Typically, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
40% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 90% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
At 6%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
In Tower, 39% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, more than in 58% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 16% of adults; primary level or less for 5.7% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). The usual figure: 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. 17% of residents 15 and over are still in education.
In its size band (2,870 to 3,804), the 11th oldest of 41 towns
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Taylor's Hill (31.8), the youngest, and Ballybrack (45.5), the oldest. Nearest to Tower in age: Skibbereen (39.2), Cahir (39.4), Carna (39.5) and Ballina (39.6).
Tower and its 6 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower | 3,300 | — | 39.4 | 13% | 54% |
| Blarney | 2,779 | 3.1 km | 39.6 | 18% | 44% |
| Ballincollig | 21,940 | 4.6 km | 38.1 | 14% | 49% |
| Killumney | 1,466 | 6.9 km | 38.6 | 9.9% | 55% |
| Shanakiel | 3,804 | 7.2 km | 36.3 | 14% | 40% |
| Hollyhill and Ballincolly | 8,606 | 7.3 km | 35.7 | 11% | 55% |
| Bishopstown | 14,529 | 7.5 km | 38 | 23% | 29% |
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 Tower’s residents
What is the population of Tower?
Tower had 3,300 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area.
What is the average age in Tower?
The median age is 39.4, older than 71% of Irish towns. 24% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Tower?
47% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,432 people), and 0.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Tower?
88% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 13% were born abroad and 7.7% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Tower?
81% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 4.8% another religion; 4.6% didn’t say.
Is Tower good for families?
54% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Tower are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Tower?
Median gross household income in Tower was €74,110 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).