Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of households of parents with children than 99% of Irish towns, at 62%
2.7% of households have no car or van; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 17%. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 1.6% in Watergrasshill. Higher than in 85% of Irish towns: 78% of residents said they are Catholic. This Co. Cork town had 1,840 residents in 607 households at the 2022 Census.
What stands out about the people of Watergrasshill
A town of families
52% of households are couples with children and 9.9% lone parents with children, more than in 99% of Irish towns; 30% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Watergrasshill’s residents are under 33.1 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 10% are 15 to 24 and 4.6% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Watergrasshill went from about 1,440 people in 2016 to 1,840 in 2022, +28%: faster growth than in 95% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Watergrasshill grew +28% from 2016 to 2022, ahead of 95% 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%.
Watergrasshill is younger than 93% of Irish towns: a median age of 33.1
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
People aged 65 and over make up 4.6% of residents, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 10% in Watergrasshill.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Cork 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
Above 52% of Irish towns: 11% 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, just over a third of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Watergrasshill, 45% and 15%. Residents who moved in within the year: 7.1% of the total.
Bigger households than 90% of Irish towns: 3 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.
The share of one-person households is 17%, against 24% across Ireland’s towns.
Watergrasshill ranks below 96% of Irish towns on households in flats: 2.3%
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
Holiday homes are rarer here than in 93% of Irish towns. Across the comparison, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. The share of households with broadband is 94%; 5% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%).
Households here have a median income of €82,070 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 €82,070 gross, 37% more than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Cork’s median household income is €60,670.
A lower share of residents born outside Ireland than 88% of Irish towns, at 14%
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.
With residents with another country’s citizenship at 9%, Watergrasshill is behind just over four fifths of Irish towns on that count. As a reference point, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are outside the EU and UK (5.5%) and elsewhere in the EU (3.5%).
Irish speakers: 47% of Watergrasshill’s residents
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
Speakers of Irish: 791 residents, 47% of those aged 3 and over. On daily speakers of Irish outside education, 1% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 83% of Irish towns: 86%
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: 86% of Watergrasshill · Co. Cork’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (7.6%), Other, including mixed (2.3%) and Black or Black Irish (2.2%). The share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns is 78%. Residents with no religion are rarer here than in 70% of Irish towns.
Above 70% of Irish towns: 37% of residents 15 and over are married
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 4.9%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
In Watergrasshill, 44% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, more than in 68% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate: 16% of adults. By way of comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Primary level or earlier: 3.5%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns.
Watergrasshill is younger than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watergrasshill | 1,840 | — | 33.1 | 4.6% | 62% |
| Rathcormac | 1,957 | 8.5 km | 34.7 | 5.2% | 57% |
| Riverstown | 3,664 | 9.0 km | 37.1 | 8.3% | 58% |
| Glanmire | 4,454 | 10.3 km | 34.8 | 6.7% | 58% |
| Ballyvolane | 8,707 | 10.8 km | 38.4 | 13% | 54% |
| Glounthaune | 5,000 | 11.0 km | 40.1 | 17% | 50% |
| Mayfield | 2,846 | 12.4 km | 39.3 | 17% | 43% |
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 Watergrasshill’s residents
What is the population of Watergrasshill?
Watergrasshill had 1,840 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 28% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Watergrasshill?
The median age is 33.1. 35% are under 18 and 4.6% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Watergrasshill?
47% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (791 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Watergrasshill?
86% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 14% were born abroad and 9% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Watergrasshill?
78% are Catholic, 14% have no religion and 7.5% another religion; 2.6% didn’t say.
Is Watergrasshill good for families?
62% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 35% of residents are under 18. Schools near Watergrasshill are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Watergrasshill?
Median gross household income in Watergrasshill was €82,070 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).