Kells’ story
Kells: 9 buildings on the National Inventory
The record adds 3 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 12%, against 3% across Irish towns.
- 1765Mill Cottage
- 1780Mill (water), Kells
- 1865House, Kells
KellsCo. Kilkenny
It is a town of 291 residents in Co. Kilkenny.
3 places within 19 kmMap →
Photo: Zairon · CC BY 4.0
Population
291
CSO, Census 2022 · Kilkenny County Council
Median age
41.5
14% are 65+ · Co. Kilkenny 14%
Degree level
47%
of residents 15+ · Irish towns 36%
Walk, cycle, transit
4%
of working residents · Irish towns 23%
Is Kells a good place to live?
The median sale, €322,900, comes to 4.6 times what the median household here earns. On the way to work, 4% walk, cycle or take the bus or train. 47% of residents 15 and over hold a degree. Two in five households own their home with no mortgage.
Irish towns are graded from 1,000 residents, which leaves Kells out for now.
What makes Kells stand out
The 3 things Kells does most differently from other towns.
Walk, cycle or public transport
Getting around
4% walk, cycle or ride
Against 23% in the median of Irish towns
CSO, Census 2022
Degree or higher, residents 15+
Education
Against 36% in the median of Irish towns
CSO, Census 2022
Own outright
Housing
40% own outright
Against 32% in the median of Irish towns
CSO, Census 2022
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kells.
Natural hazards
Kells has low radon and steady ground, but its flood exposure isn’t measured
By estimate, fewer than one home in a hundred in Kells has radon above the reference level. Landslides: none of Kells lies in a high-susceptibility zone. Next to none of its homes lie low beside a river or the sea.
0%of homes in high-radon areas
Homes exposed · share of the town’s homes
In high-radon areas0%
On high landslide susceptibility0%
| Share of homes | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 84% | 0% |
| On high landslide susceptibility | 0% | 0% | 0% |
under 0.1%
of homes over the radon level
138
homes mapped for these shares
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Climate
Hardly any Irish towns see hotter July days than Kells
A January night in Kells drops to 2.3°C on average, near Co. Kilkenny’s towns (2.3°C) and lower than Irish towns (2.9°C). The town sees July afternoons of 20.3°C on average. October is the wettest month in the town, with 98 mm of rain on average.
20.3°CJuly afternoon high
Average afternoon highs by season · 1991–2020 averages
Winter9.0°C
Spring13.5°C
Summer19.7°C
Autumn14.4°C
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 20.3°C | 20.2°C | 19.9°C |
| January low | 2.3°C | 2.3°C | 2.9°C |
| Rain a year | 895 mm | 906 mm | 937 mm |
20.3°C
July high
2.3°C
January low
895 mm
Rain a year
98 mm
Wettest month
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
Health
Fewer people in Kells have a disability than its ages would predict: 72 per 100 expected, under Co. Kilkenny’s towns and Irish towns
At the census, 92% of people in Kells called their health good or very good, higher than both Co. Kilkenny’s towns (88%) and Irish towns (88%). Weighed against its ages, bad health locally runs at 55 per 100 expected. Disability touches 16% of Kells’ population.
92%good or very good health
Per 100 expected at the town’s ages · age-standardised
Bad health55
Disability72
Co. Kilkenny98
Expected100
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 92%Fair 7%Bad or very bad 1%
| Census 2022 | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| With a disability | 16% | 23% | 22% |
| Unpaid carers | 6.9% | 5.2% | 5.4% |
| Bad or very bad health | 1% | 1.8% | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 92% | 88% | 88% |
55
bad health per 100 expected · Co. Kilkenny 98
72
disability per 100 expected · Co. Kilkenny 107
83.1 · 79.3
life expectancy, women · men, the South-East region, 2016
27%
hold a medical card, HSE Dublin and South East
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Housing
More households own their home in Kells than in Co. Kilkenny’s towns or across Irish towns: 80%
14% rent privately, below Co. Kilkenny’s towns (19%) and Irish towns (22%) alike. Council and housing-body homes hold 5% of households.
€323Kmedian sale price
Median sale price · Eircode area, 2023–2025
Kells€323K
Co. Kilkenny€289K
Irish towns€350K
| Housing | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households owning their home | 80% | 60% | 61% |
| Households in social housing | 5% | 19% | 13% |
| Households renting privately | 14% | 19% | 22% |
| Median sale price | €323K | €289K | €350K |
80%
own their home · Irish towns 61%
14%
rent privately · Irish towns 22%
€1,207
a month on new tenancies, County Kilkenny
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure · The price is for the postcode area R95, not the town alone: too few sales inside the town carry a full address.
Outdoors
Kells borders River Barrow and River Nore SAC
Among the protected sites near Kells is River Barrow. Green space in Kells adds up to 1 ha, in one park. Within 1 km, 0.5% of the land is woodland, lower than both Co. Kilkenny’s towns (3.8%) and Irish towns (2.7%). 100% of homes are within 400 m of green space.
100%of homes near green space
Green space per 1,000 residents · per 1,000 residents
Kells2.0 ha
Co. Kilkenny3.5 ha
Irish towns4.1 ha
| Outdoors | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland within 1 km | 0.5% | 3.8% | 2.7% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.3 km per km² | 0.8 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Near a park | 100% | 96% | 92% |
100%
Near a park
2.0 ha
Green space
2 km
Footpaths
2.4%
Protected for nature
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Weather
Kells today: cloudy, topping out at 11 degrees
In November a normal day reaches 11°C and a normal night 4°C; the forecast for Kells below sets each day against them. A passing shower is possible today, but barely measurable; the breeze reaches 24 km/h, and the low is 8°C. Thursday should be the warmest of the days ahead, at 10°C, and the coolest reaches only 6°C.
11°C / 8°CToday
This month and the next three, normal highs · 1991–2020 averages
November11°C
December9°C
January9°C
February9°C
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 9°C | 2°C | 242 mm |
| Spring | 14°C | 5°C | 185 mm |
| Summer | 20°C | 11°C | 206 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 7°C | 263 mm |
11°C / 8°C
Today
0.3 mm
Rain, next 24 hours
23 km/h
Wind
81%
Humidity
9 h 23 min
Daylight
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
Work & commute
Only 4.2% of commuters in Kells go to work without a car, fewer than in both Co. Kilkenny’s towns and Irish towns
Getting to work takes 31.1 min on average. Working mainly from home: 13% of workers, higher than both Co. Kilkenny’s towns (8.5%) and Irish towns (11%). The car carried just over four in five commuters at the census.
4%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2022
Car or van82%
Walk3%
Bus1%
Train, DART or Luas1%
| Census 2022 | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 31.1 min | 23.8 min | 27.6 min |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 23% | 39% | 31% |
| Median household income | €69,830 | €53,954 | €57,760 |
| Unemployment rate | 7.1% | 10% | 9.2% |
€69,830
household income, 2022 estimate · Co. Kilkenny €58,186
13%
worked mainly from home, 2022
11%
trips of an hour or more
2,100
on the Live Register, County Kilkenny, September 2026
CSO, Census 2022 travel to work, work and education · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · Live Register · Census day was 3 April 2022, with working from home still common; shares are of those who travelled.
Who lives here
Students and young workers shape Kells: 15% are 15 to 24, above Co. Kilkenny’s towns and Irish towns
Children under 15 make up 18%, below Co. Kilkenny’s towns (24%) and Irish towns (20%) alike. 14% of the people living here were born in another country.
41.5median age
KellsCo. KilkennyIreland
Ages · share of residents
15%
Highest education · residents 15 and older who have finished education
Primary or none5%
Lower secondary12%
Leaving Cert32%
Diploma or cert3%
Degree or higher47%
Women and men · all residents
Women make up 47.4% of Kells
138 women and 153 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 24% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 15% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 29% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 14% | 14% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 5.3% | 9.4% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 12% | 14% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 32% | 37% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 3.2% | 6.1% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 47% | 31% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Kilkenny and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Town hall
More people in Kells vote than in Co. Kilkenny’s towns or Irish towns: 54% turnout at the local elections
With 11 of 24 seats, Fianna Fáil are the largest group on Kilkenny County Council, short of the 13 a majority needs. Local government for Kells is Kilkenny County Council alone; Ireland has a single tier. This Co. Kilkenny town sits in the Callan-Thomastown local electoral area, which elects 6 councillors.
11/24seats held by Fianna Fáil
Seats on Kilkenny County · June 2024
Fianna Fáil11
Fine Gael7
Independent2
Labour Party2
Sinn Féin1
Green Party1
| Turnout | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 54% | 50% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 58% | 58% | 59% |
6
Councillors
11/24
Fianna Fáil seats on Kilkenny County, the largest party
54%
turnout, June 2024
5
TDs elected for Carlow-Kilkenny
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
History
Heritage is thick on the ground in Kells: 309 inventory buildings per 10,000 residents, above Co. Kilkenny’s towns and Irish towns
Just over a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, above both Co. Kilkenny’s towns (4.5%) and Irish towns (3.4%). The ground here holds 3 recorded archaeological sites. The national inventory of architectural heritage lists 9 buildings in Kells, each rated of regional importance.
9inventory buildings
Buildings by NIAH rating · NIAH
International0
National0
Regional9
Among them
- Mill Cottage 1765
- Mill (water), Kells 1780
- Mill (water), Kells 1790
- House, Kells 1865
3
sites on the Sites and Monuments Record
1765
earliest dated inventory building
12%
homes built before 1919 · Irish towns 3%
1
places pictured on the history page
| Heritage | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 309 | 216 | 48 |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 3 | 84 | 11 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 11.9% | 4.5% | 3.4% |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
Schools
The nearest secondary school to Kells is 7.8 km away
Families in Kells have one school within 3 km. Pupils at the school within 3 km of the town: 27.
1schools within 3 km
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. BhridheLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 27 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Kells | Co. Kilkenny | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 6% | 8% |
| In the DEIS scheme | 0% | 11% | 35% |
27
pupils at schools within 3 km, 2025/26
0.2 km
to the nearest primary school
7.8 km
to the nearest secondary school
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Results by school aren’t published in Ireland, so the cards carry none.
Nearby attractions
All attractions →Kells Priory Mill Museum and 3 more in and around Kells
Castles, abbeys, gardens, museums and days out in and near Kells. Best known first.
MuseumMuseumKells Priory Mill Museumin town
Abbey or priory · Office of Public WorksKells Priory200 m outside town, to the eastHistoric houseHistoric houseKilree High Cross2 km outside town, to the southHistoric siteHistoric siteKilree Round Tower2 km outside town, to the south
Abbey or priory · Office of Public WorksKells Priory200 m outside town, to the eastHistoric houseHistoric houseKilree High Cross2 km outside town, to the southHistoric siteHistoric siteKilree Round Tower2 km outside town, to the southPlaces: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0) · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata
Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (1)
- Kells Priory: Dave Henderson, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Kells
15pages on Kells
Landmarks
The national inventory of architectural heritage lists 9 buildings in Kells, each rated of regional importance. 3 archaeological sites are on the record here.
Famous people from around Kells
No notable person born in Kells is on our list; these were born in the towns around it.
Photo credits
Phil Hogan: EU2016 NL from The Netherlands, CC BY 2.0 · James Mason: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain · John Banim: John Boyle O'Reilly's The Poetry and Song of Ireland. New York: Gay Brothers & Co., 1887, Public domain · Edmund Ignatius Rice: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain · James O'Neill: William F. Connor, Public domain · Kathleen Funchion: Sinn Féin, CC BY 2.0
Kells’ neighbours
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
CallanThomastownKilkennyKells
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kells | 291 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Callan | 2,678 | 7.6 | A+ | A− | A | B |
| Thomastown | 2,305 | 9.1 | — | B | B+ | C− |
| Kilkenny | 27,184 | 13 | B+ | B+ | C | B |
People: CSO, Census 2022. Distances: centre to centre.
Questions about Kells
Is Kells growing?
Kells had 291 people at the 2022 census, up from 276 in 2016: 5.4% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
How old are the people of Kells?
The median age in Kells is 41.5, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns.
About Kells
Urban area in Co. Kilkenny
Kells has 291 people, in the area of Kilkenny County Council. TownRatings uses the CSO’s 2022 Urban Areas as Ireland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a county or a council area, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from Tailte Éireann’s boundaries and the CSO’s Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0)
- Population
- 291 (CSO, Census 2022)
- County
- Kilkenny
- Council
- Kilkenny County Council
- Local electoral area
- Callan-Thomastown
- Dáil constituency
- Carlow-Kilkenny
- Name in Irish
- Ceanannas
- Area
- 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km²)
- CSO code
- UA:07662
Sources: CSO, Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics (CC BY 4.0) · Tailte Éireann, Urban Areas and Electoral Divisions 2022 (CC BY 4.0). 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).