Photo: J. Patrick Fischer · CC BY-SA 4.0More holiday homes than 99% of Irish towns: 26%
The share of one-person households is 35%, against 24% across Ireland’s towns. Kenmare had 2,566 residents in 971 households at the 2022 Census. Residents aged 65 and over account for 18%. On residents who describe themselves as White Irish, Kenmare sits lower than four fifths of Irish towns: 68%.
What stands out about the people of Kenmare
One home in 4 is a holiday home
About 420 of 1,600 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (26%), more than in 99% of Irish towns; 11% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
More born abroad than anywhere else in Co. Kerry
33% of residents were born abroad, against 25% across Co. Kerry’s towns and 22% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born elsewhere in the EU (9.5%) and in the UK (8.7%); 25% are citizens of another country. Where people were born ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Growth of +13% since 2016 puts Kenmare ahead of 75% 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 Ireland’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +8%; across Co. Kerry’s towns, by more than +2%.
Older than 79% of Irish towns: half of Kenmare is over 40.3
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.9%, below 96% of Irish towns. More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Kenmare, 40.3. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Kerry 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
8.2% of residents 15 and over are students, below 91% 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
Where 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns, Kenmare has 8.7%. To put it in context, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Households here average 2.4 people, below 87% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Kerry’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
3.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. The share of households of parents with children stands at 41%.
Fewer households in flats than 73% of Irish towns: 8.2%
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
Connected households: 85% on broadband; 12% offline (typical: 7.6%). 16% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 58% of Irish towns.
Household income at the median: €40,380 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Households here have a median gross income of €40,380, 33% lower than across Ireland (€60,120). In Co. Kerry overall, the median comes to €48,320.
Residents born outside Ireland make up 33% in Kenmare, more than in 87% 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 40%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
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.
27% speak another language at home, most often Polish (9.3%); 3.9% speak English not well or not at all. Set beside that, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Higher than in 86% of Irish towns: 25% of residents are citizens of another country.
Can speak Irish: 39% of Kenmare’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
In all, 927 residents aged 3 and over (39%) can speak Irish. 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, a higher share than in 52% of Irish towns.
Residents with no religion make up 20% in Kenmare, more than in 68% 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: 68% of Kenmare · Co. Kerry’s towns 73% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (26%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.1%) and Black or Black Irish (2%). By way of comparison, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. On residents who said they are Catholic, Kenmare sits lower than 63% of Irish towns: 69%.
Married residents 15 and over make up 33% in Kenmare, less than in 65% 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 are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 5.8%. Typically, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
35% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 54% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Across Ireland’s towns, 9.7% of adults finished at primary level or earlier; in Kenmare, 8.9%, and 11% hold a postgraduate qualification. Adults with a degree or higher make up 36% across Ireland’s towns.
Ranked by age, 10th oldest of 41 towns this size
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 30.4 in Kilbarry to 45.5 in Ballybrack. Nearest to Kenmare in age: Ballina (39.6), Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) (39.8), Decies (41.2) and Donegal (41.2).
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Kerry’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Kerry’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 Kenmare’s residents
What is the population of Kenmare?
Kenmare had 2,566 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 13% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Kenmare?
The median age is 40.3, older than 79% of Irish towns. 24% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Kenmare?
39% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (927 people), and 1.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Kenmare?
68% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 33% were born abroad and 25% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Kenmare?
69% are Catholic, 20% have no religion and 11% another religion; 4.9% didn’t say.
Is Kenmare good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Kenmare are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Kenmare?
Median gross household income in Kenmare was €40,380 in 2022, against €48,320 across Co. Kerry 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).