Photo: David Hawgood · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 99% of Irish towns: 0.8% of households live in a flat or apartment
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish make up 91%, against 78% across Ireland’s towns. Half of Garryowen’s residents are over 40.9, older than in 84% of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census, 5,428 people lived in the neighbourhood, in 2,020 households. In Garryowen, 45% of households are parents with children.
What stands out about the people of Garryowen
Fewer people than before
Garryowen went from about 5,540 people in 2016 to 5,428 in 2022, −2%: slower growth than in 98% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Since 2016, Garryowen has changed by −2%, slower than 98% 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.
Across Ireland’s towns, the typical town changed +8%; across Co. Limerick’s towns, +9%.
A larger share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 83% of Irish towns: 14%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 50–54: 7.8% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 15% in Garryowen.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Garryowen, 40.9. 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. Limerick 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 2.7% in Garryowen, less than in 99% 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
Just over one in ten residents 15 and over are students (Ireland’s towns: 10%). For comparison, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
One-person households: 22%, a lower share than 62% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Limerick’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
At 2.7 people, the average household compares with 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 5.3%. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.
20% of households have no car or van, a share 62% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
Most homes are connected: 89% have broadband, and 9.3% have no internet (typical: 7.6%). About one household in 5 lives without a car or van. Holiday homes are rarer here than in 93% of Irish towns.
Households here have a median income of €50,710 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €50,710 a year before tax, the median household income is 16% under that of Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €55,950 across Co. Limerick.
10% of residents were born outside Ireland, below 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.
In Garryowen, 5.9% of residents are citizens of another country, beside 15% across Ireland’s towns. Against that, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Another language is spoken at home by 8%, most often Polish (1.6%); 1.3% speak English not well or not at all.
Irish: 32% of Garryowen’s residents can speak it
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 1,503 residents (32% of those aged 3 and over). Fewer daily speakers of Irish outside education than in 65% of Irish towns: 0.9%.
More residents who said they are Catholic than 96% of Irish towns: 83%
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: 91% of Garryowen · Co. Limerick’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents with no religion trails 84% of Irish towns: 12%. The usual figure: 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (4.9%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.7%) and Irish Traveller (1%).
Unpaid carers make up 6.4% in Garryowen, more than in 87% 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.
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of married residents 15 and over is 34%; Garryowen has 35%. The wider picture: 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Only 16% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Garryowen
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 4% of adults; primary level or less for 14% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). As a yardstick, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Ranked by age, 9th oldest of 41 towns this size
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Gillabbey (25.6) and the oldest Sutton (45.4). Nearest to Garryowen in age: Salthill (40.4), Clonakilty (40.5), Ballyboden (41.5) and Harmonstown (41.6).
The towns around Garryowen are all younger
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garryowen | 5,428 | — | 40.9 | 15% | 45% |
| Galvone | 5,412 | 0.9 km | 36.2 | 13% | 33% |
| Prospect and Newtown Pery | 4,122 | 1.7 km | 40.8 | 18% | 31% |
| Rathbane | 4,111 | 1.7 km | 37.9 | 15% | 47% |
| Corbally and King's Island | 14,213 | 1.7 km | 39.5 | 16% | 37% |
| Limerick City Centre | 3,434 | 1.8 km | 34.8 | 5.9% | 14% |
| Dock | 6,258 | 2.3 km | 35.4 | 9.4% | 24% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Limerick’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Limerick’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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas
Questions about Garryowen’s residents
What is the population of Garryowen?
Garryowen had 5,428 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 2% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Garryowen?
The median age is 40.9, older than 84% of Irish towns. 21% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Garryowen?
32% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,503 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Garryowen?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 10% were born abroad and 5.9% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Garryowen?
83% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 4.8% another religion; 12% didn’t say.
Is Garryowen good for families?
45% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Garryowen are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Garryowen?
Median gross household income in Garryowen was €50,710 in 2022, against €55,950 across Co. Limerick 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 · Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas. 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).