Photo: Barry Hunter · CC BY-SA 2.0Rathkeale: 9.2% of homes are holiday homes, above 98% of Irish towns
By its share of residents who said they are Catholic (90%), Rathkeale is above 99% of Irish towns. There were 478 households here at the 2022 Census, home to 1,231 residents. Households of parents with children account for 33%. More one-person households than in 87% of Irish towns: 31%.
What stands out about the people of Rathkeale
One home in 11 is a holiday home
About 70 of 790 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (9.2%), more than in 98% of Irish towns; 28% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
A mix of backgrounds
40% of residents describe a background other than White Irish, more than in 91% of Irish towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Irish Traveller (32%), Other White (3.9%) and Other, including mixed (1.5%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Rathkeale’s residents are under 41.4 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 18% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Slower growth than 79% of Irish towns: Rathkeale changed by +3% since 2016
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, half of towns changed by more than +8%; across Co. Limerick’s towns, by more than +9%.
Older than 87% of Irish towns: half of Rathkeale is over 41.4
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 12%. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 18% in Rathkeale.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Limerick 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Rathkeale, 6.1% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer 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
By occupation, process, plant and machine operatives are over-represented: 19%, against a typical 7.8%. 4.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 92% of Irish towns. The wider picture: 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Rathkeale households average 2.5 people, smaller than in 71% 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.
4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns, against 5.9% in Rathkeale.
Above 83% of Irish towns: 29% of households have no car or van
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
Connected households: 48% on broadband; 49% offline (typical: 7.6%). Nearly one in ten households live in a flat or apartment, a lower share than in 72% of Irish towns. Elsewhere, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
Households here have a median income of €33,810 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Households here have a median gross income of €33,810, 44% lower than across Ireland (€60,120). Co. Limerick’s median household income is €55,950.
Rathkeale ranks below 93% of Irish towns on residents with another country’s citizenship: 7.3%
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.
15% of residents were born abroad, against 19% across Co. Limerick’s towns and 22% across Ireland’s towns. Polish leads the languages spoken at home (1.2%), among the 8.8% who speak another language there; 2.7% speak English not well or not at all.
A smaller share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 96% of Irish towns: 0.5%
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 201 residents (19% of those aged 3 and over). Elsewhere, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
In Rathkeale, 5.3% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 99% 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: 60% of Rathkeale · Co. Limerick’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Here 60% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 78%. The usual figure: 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
4.4% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 84% 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.
Where just over a third of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns, Rathkeale has 33%. By way of comparison, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Fewer adults with a degree or higher than 99% of Irish towns: 8.3%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate: 1.7% of adults. The share of adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns is 36%. Primary level or earlier: 39%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns.
Median age: 1 of the 4 towns around Rathkeale are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathkeale | 1,231 | — | 41.4 | 18% | 33% |
| Askeaton | 1,236 | 9.5 km | 38.2 | 18% | 43% |
| Adare | 1,224 | 10.6 km | 42.9 | 20% | 37% |
| Newcastle West | 7,209 | 11.2 km | 37.4 | 15% | 43% |
| Croom | 1,240 | 14.9 km | 39.8 | 18% | 38% |
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 Rathkeale’s residents
What is the population of Rathkeale?
Rathkeale had 1,231 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rathkeale?
The median age is 41.4. 23% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rathkeale?
19% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (201 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rathkeale?
60% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 7.3% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rathkeale?
90% are Catholic, 5.3% have no religion and 4.9% another religion; 8.9% didn’t say.
Is Rathkeale good for families?
33% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rathkeale are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rathkeale?
Median gross household income in Rathkeale was €33,810 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).