Photo: A.-K. D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Ballyragget is older than 89% of Irish towns: a median age of 41.9
Against a figure of 71% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic in Ballyragget comes in at 85%. The town had 1,116 residents in 401 households at the 2022 Census. The share of households in flats stands at 6.7%. Fewer shared households of unrelated adults than in 93% of Irish towns: 2.2%.
What stands out about the people of Ballyragget
Older than most towns
Half of Ballyragget’s residents are under 41.9 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 22% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
+5% since 2016, a pace below 67% 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.
For comparison, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +4% across Co. Kilkenny’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 22% in Ballyragget, more than in 93% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
At 12%, residents aged 15 to 24 sit close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 10–14, with 7.9% of residents.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Kilkenny 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
7.5% of residents 15 and over are students, below 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
Among workers, caring, leisure and other services stand out: 13%, against a typical 8.3%. Set beside that, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 6.9%.
Ballyragget sits above 69% of Irish towns for households of parents with children (47%)
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Kilkenny’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Across Ireland’s towns, households average 2.7 people; in Ballyragget, 2.6. Against that, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns. For Ballyragget, the census puts one-person households at 25%.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 60% of Irish towns, at 16%
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. As a reference point, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
€54,610 a year is the median household income here
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €54,610 a year before tax, the median household income is 9% under that of Ireland (€60,120). County median: €58,190 (Co. Kilkenny).
10% of residents were born outside Ireland, fewer than in 97% 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.
Residents born abroad were most often born in the UK (5.5%), then outside the EU and UK (2.1%). On residents with another country’s citizenship, Ballyragget sits lower than 98% of Irish towns: 4.1%. The wider picture: just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
Irish speakers make up 40% of Ballyragget
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
The ability to speak Irish extends to 401 residents (40% of those aged 3 and over). In Co. Kilkenny, Kilkenny has the highest share (1.3%). Daily speakers of Irish outside education make up 1%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns.
Ballyragget ranks below 99% of Irish towns on residents with no religion: 8%
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: 93% of Ballyragget · Co. Kilkenny’s towns 86% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White Irish come Other White (4.1%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.8%) and Other, including mixed (0.8%). More residents who describe themselves as White Irish than in 98% of Irish towns: 93%. For residents with no religion, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 17%.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 74% of Irish towns: 37%
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 6.2%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. By way of comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of adults with a degree or higher than 88% of Irish towns: 21%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate qualifications are held by 5.8% of adults here, while 15% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Across Ireland’s towns, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher.
No nearby town is as old as Ballyragget
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyragget | 1,116 | — | 41.9 | 22% | 47% |
| Castlecomer | 1,496 | 8.1 km | 40.5 | 19% | 47% |
| Abbeyleix | 1,897 | 14.2 km | 41.4 | 18% | 43% |
| Kilkenny | 27,184 | 15.8 km | 38.9 | 15% | 39% |
| Urlingford | 1,196 | 18.4 km | 37.3 | 16% | 50% |
| Rathdowney | 1,368 | 19.1 km | 37.4 | 17% | 43% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Kilkenny’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Kilkenny has fewer than five towns of 2,500 or more, so its figure is the median of its towns of 1,000 or more; the national figure is the median of 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 Ballyragget’s residents
What is the population of Ballyragget?
Ballyragget had 1,116 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballyragget?
The median age is 41.9. 24% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballyragget?
40% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (401 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballyragget?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 10% were born abroad and 4.1% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballyragget?
85% are Catholic, 8% have no religion and 6.6% another religion; 4% didn’t say.
Is Ballyragget good for families?
47% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballyragget are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballyragget?
Median gross household income in Ballyragget was €54,610 in 2022, against €58,190 across Co. Kilkenny 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).