Photo: Graham Horn · CC BY-SA 2.0Oola is older than 99% of Irish towns: a median age of 49.1
The figure for residents who said they are Catholic is 86% in Oola and 71% across Ireland’s towns. This Co. Limerick town has fewer households in flats than 90% of Irish towns, at 4.6%. The 2022 Census counted 315 residents in 152 households. The census found that nearly a third of households are parents with children in the town.
A +3% change since 2016: slower than 77% 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 across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Limerick’s towns +9%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 99% of Irish towns: 27%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 2.1 times the share across Ireland’s towns. The census found that one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Oola. Measured more widely, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Limerick 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
Fewer students among residents 15 and over than 98% of Irish towns: 7.3%
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
29% of Oola’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 13% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Fewer residents who moved in within the year than in 96% of Irish towns: 3.8%.
Oola sits above 99% of Irish towns for one-person households (41%)
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.
A household here has 2.1 people on average; across Ireland’s towns, 2.7. The census found that 1.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Oola. Elsewhere, 24% of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.
Oola ranks above 88% of Irish towns on holiday homes: 1.2%
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
Few places have as many households without a car or van: 18% here, more than in 53% of Irish towns. By way of comparison, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns.
Median gross household income: €52,020 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €52,020 a year before tax, the median household income is 13% under that of Ireland (€60,120). Co. Limerick comes in at €55,950 at the median.
12% of residents were born outside Ireland, below 96% 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.
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the UK (8.9%) and outside the EU and UK (1.3%). Lower than in 98% of Irish towns: 4.8% of residents are citizens of another country. The comparison figure for residents born outside Ireland is 22% across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 82% of Irish towns: 0.7%
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
No town in Co. Limerick beats Farranshone (1.9%). As a reference point, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 99% of Irish towns: 94%
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: 94% of Oola · Co. Limerick’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Here 12% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 17%. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish is 78%. Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (3.9%), Other, including mixed (0.7%) and Irish Traveller (0.3%).
Fewer married residents 15 and over than 63% of Irish towns: 33%
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.
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 5.1%. To put it in context, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Below 90% of Irish towns: 19% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher
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 4.5% of adults; primary level or less for 20% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Elsewhere, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Every nearby town is younger than Oola
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oola | 315 | — | 49.1 | 27% | 32% |
| Tipperary | 5,387 | 9.2 km | 40.3 | 18% | 38% |
| Caherconlish | 1,569 | 16.0 km | 37.7 | 14% | 53% |
| Moroe | 1,432 | 16.3 km | 35.2 | 8% | 57% |
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.
Questions about Oola’s residents
What is the population of Oola?
Oola had 315 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Oola?
The median age is 49.1. 17% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Oola?
41% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (126 people), and 0.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Oola?
94% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 12% were born abroad and 4.8% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Oola?
86% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 2.3% another religion; 1.3% didn’t say.
Is Oola good for families?
32% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 17% of residents are under 18. Schools near Oola are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Oola?
Median gross household income in Oola was €52,020 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. 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).