Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Kilgarvan is older than 98% of Irish towns: a median age of 45
Across Ireland’s towns, households average 2.7 people; in Kilgarvan, 2.3. The town is home to 264 residents in 115 households, by the 2022 Census. For Kilgarvan, the census puts one-person households at 39%. 2.6% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 96% of Irish towns.
A +18% change since 2016: faster than 86% 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; +2% across Co. Kerry’s towns.
6.8% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
In Kilgarvan, 18% of residents are 65 or over, beside 14% across Ireland’s towns. More residents are 35–39 than any other five-year age: 8.7% of residents. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Kerry 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
In Kilgarvan, 4.2% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 99% 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
30% of Kilgarvan’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 18% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 8.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Kilgarvan ranks below 76% of Irish towns on households of parents with children: 37%
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.
For Kilgarvan, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 5.2%. The comparison figure for households of parents with children is 43% across Ireland’s towns.
Holiday homes make up 9% in Kilgarvan, more than in 98% 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
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 17%; Kilgarvan has 11%. The usual figure: 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns.
The median household brings in €47,340 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 €47,340, 21% lower than across Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Kerry as a whole, the figure is €48,320.
Kilgarvan sits below 55% of Irish towns for residents with another country’s citizenship (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.
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the UK (8.1%) and in Poland (5.8%). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is 15%. Kilgarvan sits close to the norm on residents born outside Ireland: 22%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
1.3% of residents speak Irish every day outside education
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
88 residents, 37% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.1% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
80% of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 89% 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: 85% of Kilgarvan · Co. Kerry’s towns 73% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Here 85% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 78%. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is 71%. Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (14%), Asian or Asian Irish (0.8%) and Other, including mixed (0.8%).
Kilgarvan ranks below 98% of Irish towns on unpaid carers: 2.7%
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.
Against a figure of 34% across Ireland’s towns, the share of married residents 15 and over in Kilgarvan comes in at 36%. By way of comparison, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Fewer adults with a degree or higher than 86% of Irish towns: 22%
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, one in ten adults finished at primary level or earlier; in Kilgarvan, 12%, and 5.1% hold a postgraduate qualification. To put it in context, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Kilgarvan is older than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
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 Kilgarvan’s residents
What is the population of Kilgarvan?
Kilgarvan had 264 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 18% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Kilgarvan?
The median age is 45. 20% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Kilgarvan?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (88 people), and 1.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Kilgarvan?
85% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 22% were born abroad and 14% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Kilgarvan?
80% are Catholic, 16% have no religion and 3.7% another religion; 7.6% didn’t say.
Is Kilgarvan good for families?
37% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 20% of residents are under 18. Schools near Kilgarvan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Kilgarvan?
Median gross household income in Kilgarvan was €47,340 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).