Photo: Robert Ashby · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of households of parents with children than 99% of Irish towns, at 72%
By its share of residents who said they are Catholic (84%), Carragh is above 97% of Irish towns. Meanwhile, with a median age of 35, Carragh is younger than four fifths of Irish towns. There were 285 households in the town at the 2022 Census, home to 1,006 residents. Census figures put shared households of unrelated adults at 1.4% here.
What stands out about the people of Carragh
A student town
21% of residents aged 15 and over are students, more than in 98% of Irish towns; Ireland’s towns 10%. 20% of residents are 15 to 24. Social class & newcomers ↓
A town of families
64% of households are couples with children and 8.4% lone parents with children, more than in 99% of Irish towns; 23% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
From 2016 to 2022, 84% of Irish towns grew faster than Carragh: +2%
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 change is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +14% across Co. Kildare’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 5% in Carragh, less than in 97% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 15–19: 14% of residents, 2.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. In Leixlip, the oldest of Co. Kildare’s towns by this measure, it is 17%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Kildare 51.0%, Ireland 51.2%.
Above 98% of Irish towns: 21% 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
The share of residents who moved in within the year trails 92% of Irish towns: 4.4%. As a yardstick, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Carragh sits below 99% of Irish towns for one-person households (8.8%)
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Kildare’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Households in Carragh hold 3.6 people on average (Ireland’s towns: 2.7). Across Ireland’s towns, one-person households come to 24%.
Fewer car-free households than 99% of Irish towns: 3.3%
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
Connected households: 96% on broadband; 3% offline (typical: 7.6%). 4.9% of households live in a flat or apartment. Holiday homes are rarer here than in 93% of Irish towns. Typically, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
€101,680 a year: where the middle household sits
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 €101,680 sits 69% above Ireland (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Kildare has a median of €73,000.
In Carragh, 12% of residents were born outside Ireland, fewer than in 95% 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 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.
Most residents from abroad were born in the UK (5.2%) or elsewhere in the EU (2.1%). On residents with another country’s citizenship, Carragh sits lower than 98% of Irish towns: 5.5%. By way of comparison, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
In Carragh, 53% 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
Irish speakers number 506, or 53% of residents aged 3 and over. On daily speakers of Irish outside education, Carragh sits higher than 73% of Irish towns: 1.4%.
Carragh ranks above 98% of Irish towns on residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 92%
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: 92% of Carragh · Co. Kildare’s towns 77% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
With residents with no religion at 13%, Carragh is behind 80% of Irish towns on that count. By way of comparison, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (4.7%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.2%) and Other, including mixed (0.2%).
Carragh: 43% of residents 15 and over are married, above 96% 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.
5.2% of residents give unpaid care, a lower share than in 58% of Irish towns. To put it in context, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Carragh sits above 78% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (49%)
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 19% of adults; primary level or less for 4.1% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). 29% of residents 15 and over are still in education. Across the comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Carragh
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. Kildare’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Kildare’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 Carragh’s residents
What is the population of Carragh?
Carragh had 1,006 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Carragh?
The median age is 35. 32% are under 18 and 5% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Carragh?
53% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (506 people), and 1.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Carragh?
92% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 12% were born abroad and 5.5% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Carragh?
84% are Catholic, 13% have no religion and 3.9% another religion; 2.3% didn’t say.
Is Carragh good for families?
72% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 32% of residents are under 18. Schools near Carragh are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Carragh?
Median gross household income in Carragh was €101,680 in 2022, against €73,000 across Co. Kildare 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).