Photo: Liz McCabe · CC BY-SA 2.0Killala ranks above 99% of Irish towns on holiday homes: 11%
The share of one-person households is 33%, against 24% across Ireland’s towns. The 2022 Census counted 587 residents in 247 households. The census found that 94% of residents describe themselves as White Irish in Killala. Higher than in 93% of Irish towns: 21% of residents are 65 or over.
A change of +6% since 2016 leaves Killala behind 62% 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, half of towns changed by more than +8%; across Co. Mayo’s towns, by more than +9%.
A median age of 41: Killala is older than 84% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 7.7% of residents, 2.2 times the share across Ireland’s towns. In Killala, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Mayo 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
In Killala, 8.2% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 91% 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
26% of Killala’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 22% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year are rarer here than in 85% of Irish towns.
Killala households average 2.4 people, smaller than in 88% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Mayo’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 3.2%, Killala is behind 78% of Irish towns on that count. In Killala, just over two in five households are parents with children.
A smaller share of households in flats than 97% of Irish towns: 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
87% have broadband at home and 10% no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Set beside that, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. Across Killala, 17% of households have no car or van.
Half of households earn more than €46,700 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€46,700 a year before tax puts the median household 22% below Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Mayo, the middle household has €48,670.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 6.2% in Killala, less than in 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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
3.7% speak another language at home, most often French (1.2%); 0.3% speak English not well or not at all. Killala has fewer residents born outside Ireland than three quarters of Irish towns, at 17%. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is 15%.
A lower share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 99% of Irish towns, at 0.2%
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
In all, 218 residents aged 3 and over (41%) can speak Irish. As a reference point, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
86% of residents said they are Catholic, more 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: 94% of Killala · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 17%; Killala has 10%. Measured more widely, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
33% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 63% 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.
6.1% of residents give unpaid care, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. On average, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 23% in Killala, less than in 83% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, 7.7% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 13% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Killala is younger than 2 of its 3 nearest neighbours
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killala | 587 | — | 41 | 21% | 41% |
| Enniscrone | 1,291 | 8.4 km | 46.3 | 27% | 32% |
| Ballina | 10,556 | 11.6 km | 39.5 | 17% | 42% |
| Crossmolina | 1,134 | 13.7 km | 41.8 | 19% | 38% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Mayo’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Mayo’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 Killala’s residents
What is the population of Killala?
Killala had 587 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Killala?
The median age is 41. 23% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Killala?
41% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (218 people), and 0.2% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Killala?
94% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 17% were born abroad and 6.2% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Killala?
86% are Catholic, 10% have no religion and 4.2% another religion; 3.1% didn’t say.
Is Killala good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Killala are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Killala?
Median gross household income in Killala was €46,700 in 2022, against €48,670 across Co. Mayo 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).