Photo: Alex Passmore · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in flats: 0.7%, a lower share than 99% of Irish towns
Set against 71% across Ireland’s towns, 85% of residents said they are Catholic in Gowran. One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 96% of Irish towns. This Co. Kilkenny town had 847 residents in 306 households at the 2022 Census. Households of parents with children account for 47%.
A change of +3% since 2016 leaves Gowran behind 79% 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 change is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +4% across Co. Kilkenny’s towns.
Gowran is older than 81% of Irish towns: a median age of 40.6
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 45–49, with 8.4% of residents. Gowran has more residents aged 65 and over than 86% of Irish towns, at 19%. In Graiguenamanagh-Tinnahinch, the oldest of Co. Kilkenny’s towns by this measure, it is 22%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Kilkenny 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Gowran ranks below 78% of Irish towns on residents who moved in within the year: 5.6%
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 biggest occupational gap is in skilled trades: 15%, against a typical 11%. Across Ireland’s towns, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.6% in Gowran, less than in 87% of Irish towns
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.
The figure for one-person households is 28% in Gowran and 24% across Ireland’s towns. On average, 2.7 people share a household. By way of comparison, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 75% of Irish towns, at 11%
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
17% of households have no internet access (typical: 7.6%); 79% have broadband. Locally, 0.3% of homes are holiday homes.
The midpoint household income is €59,460 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €59,460 a year before tax, the median household income is near that of Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Kilkenny as a whole, the figure is €58,190.
Fewer residents born outside Ireland than 94% of Irish towns: 12%
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.
6.7% speak a language other than English at home, Polish most of all (1.8%); 1% speak English not well or not at all. The usual figure: 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. At 6.5%, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is lower than in 96% of Irish towns.
Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.5%, a lower share than 96% of Irish towns
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
Top of Co. Kilkenny: Kilkenny, at 1.3%. To put it in context, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 92%, a higher share than 98% 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: 92% of Gowran · Co. Kilkenny’s towns 86% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Here 9.8% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 17%. The usual figure: 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (5.4%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.2%) and Other, including mixed (1.1%).
A higher share of married residents 15 and over than 57% of Irish towns, at 35%
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.
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 4.7%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
27% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 72% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate: 6.8% of adults. Adults with a degree or higher: 36% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. Primary level or earlier: 14%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns.
Nearby, 1 of 4 towns have older populations than Gowran
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gowran | 847 | — | 40.6 | 19% | 47% |
| Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) | 2,945 | 10.3 km | 39.8 | 18% | 43% |
| Graiguenamanagh-Tinnahinch | 1,506 | 12.2 km | 44.1 | 22% | 39% |
| Thomastown | 2,305 | 12.5 km | 40.6 | 15% | 49% |
| Kilkenny | 27,184 | 12.6 km | 38.9 | 15% | 39% |
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 Gowran’s residents
What is the population of Gowran?
Gowran had 847 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Gowran?
The median age is 40.6. 26% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Gowran?
40% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (298 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Gowran?
92% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 12% were born abroad and 6.5% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Gowran?
85% are Catholic, 9.8% have no religion and 5% another religion; 5% didn’t say.
Is Gowran good for families?
47% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Gowran are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Gowran?
Median gross household income in Gowran was €59,460 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).