Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of holiday homes than 98% of Irish towns, at 8.1%
Half of Killarney’s residents are over 40, older than in 78% of Irish towns. This Co. Kerry town is home to 14,412 residents in 4,876 households, by the 2022 Census. Here, 37% of households are parents with children. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 66%, below 84% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Killarney
One home in 12 is a holiday home
About 490 of 6,050 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (8.1%), more than in 98% of Irish towns; 9% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
Growing more slowly than most
Killarney went from about 14,330 people in 2016 to 14,412 in 2022, +1%: slower growth than in 90% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A +1% change since 2016: slower than 90% 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.
The median across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Kerry’s towns +2%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 16% in Killarney, more than in 67% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11% here and 12% across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 35–39, with 8.5% of residents.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Killarney, 40. 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. Kerry 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Students among residents 15 and over make up 7.7% in Killarney, less than in 97% 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
Against a figure of 7.5% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year in Killarney comes in at 10%. Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; here, 32% and 18%.
Killarney ranks above 72% of Irish towns on one-person households: 28%
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.
6.6% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns. There are 2.5 people in the average household. The wider picture: nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.
More households in flats than 72% of Irish towns: 18%
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; 13% offline (typical: 7.6%). On the census count, 20% of households have no car or van. For comparison, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
Household income at the median: €47,880 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Killarney’s households have a gross income below €47,880 a year, 20% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Kerry as a whole, the figure is €48,320.
Killarney ranks above 82% of Irish towns on residents born outside Ireland: 31%
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.
26% speak a language other than English at home, Polish most of all (7.9%); 3.9% speak English not well or not at all. The usual figure: just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Killarney has more residents with another country’s citizenship than 84% of Irish towns, at 23%.
In Killarney, 36% of residents can speak Irish
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, 4,596 residents aged 3 and over (36%) can speak Irish. Killarney has more daily speakers of Irish outside education than 52% of Irish towns, at 1.1%.
Residents with no religion make up 15% in Killarney, less than in 67% 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: 66% of Killarney · Co. Kerry’s towns 73% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (22%), Asian or Asian Irish (5.8%) and Other, including mixed (2.5%). To put it in context, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. Few places have as many residents who said they are Catholic: 71% here, more than in 51% of Irish towns.
35% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 60% 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.
There is little gap on unpaid carers: 4.8%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. On average, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
33% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 57% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, 10% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 10% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
41 towns of 12,310 to 16,923 people: this is the 2nd oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Castletroy (29) and the oldest Ballinteer (44.1). Nearest to Killarney in age: Arklow (39.6), Wicklow (39.7) and Ballinteer (44.1).
The places around Killarney
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killarney | 14,412 | — | 40 | 16% | 37% |
| Milltown | 1,118 | 17.3 km | 37.7 | 14% | 52% |
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 Killarney’s residents
What is the population of Killarney?
Killarney had 14,412 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Killarney?
The median age is 40, older than 78% of Irish towns. 21% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Killarney?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (4,596 people), and 1.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Killarney?
66% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 31% were born abroad and 23% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Killarney?
71% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 14% another religion; 7.8% didn’t say.
Is Killarney good for families?
37% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Killarney are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Killarney?
Median gross household income in Killarney was €47,880 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).