Photo: David P Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 93% of Irish towns: half of Portroe is over 42.7
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. The 2022 Census put Portroe’s population at 459, in 183 households. Across Portroe, nine in ten residents describe themselves as White Irish. Compared with 43% across Ireland’s towns, 48% of households are parents with children here.
Portroe changed by +2% from 2016 to 2022, behind 84% 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 Co. Tipperary’s towns the median is +5%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
15% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 89% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 45–49 than any other five-year age: 10% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 62% of Irish towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Tipperary 51.3%, Ireland 51.2%.
In Portroe, 5.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 85% 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
Among the working population, caring, leisure and other services make up 17%, against a typical 8.3%. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 7.5%. The share of students among residents 15 and over stands at 12%.
Households here average 2.6 people, below 65% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Tipperary’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. For Portroe, the census puts one-person households at 25%.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 87% of Irish towns, at 7.3%
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: 86% on broadband; 11% offline (typical: 7.6%). Portroe has more holiday homes than 71% of Irish towns, at 0.5%. As a yardstick, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
Half above, half below €55,000 a year in household income
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €55,000 gross, 9% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Across Co. Tipperary the median is €52,760.
Residents with another country’s citizenship: 7.4%, a lower share than 91% 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.
Residents born outside Ireland make up 16%, against 22% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, residents with another country’s citizenship come to 15%. The largest groups were born in the UK (9.4%) and outside the EU and UK (3.7%).
Can speak Irish: 41% of Portroe’s residents
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
175 residents, just over two fifths of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Lower than in nearly two thirds of Irish towns: 0.9% of residents speak Irish daily outside education.
Portroe sits below 93% of Irish towns for residents with no religion (10%)
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: 90% of Portroe · Co. Tipperary’s towns 77% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (7.3%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.1%) and Other, including mixed (1.1%). Compared with other places, residents who said they are Catholic are common here: 79%, more than in 88% of Irish towns. Across Ireland’s towns, residents with no religion come to 17%.
More unpaid carers than 99% of Irish towns: 8.1% of residents
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.
The share of married residents 15 and over stands at 35%. About 40 residents (8.1%) give regular unpaid care (Ireland’s towns 5.4%).
Below 88% of Irish towns: 21% 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
Of Portroe’s adults, 5.4% went on to postgraduate study and 13% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). On average, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Every neighbour of Portroe has a younger population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portroe | 459 | — | 42.7 | 15% | 48% |
| Nenagh | 9,895 | 8.5 km | 38.4 | 14% | 41% |
| Ballina | 2,959 | 10.9 km | 39.6 | 11% | 54% |
| Killaloe | 1,666 | 11.9 km | 41 | 19% | 37% |
| Borrisokane | 1,117 | 18.1 km | 38.5 | 18% | 42% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Tipperary’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Tipperary’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 Portroe’s residents
What is the population of Portroe?
Portroe had 459 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Portroe?
The median age is 42.7. 22% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Portroe?
41% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (175 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Portroe?
90% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 16% were born abroad and 7.4% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Portroe?
79% are Catholic, 10% have no religion and 11% another religion; 2.2% didn’t say.
Is Portroe good for families?
48% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Portroe are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Portroe?
Median gross household income in Portroe was €55,000 in 2022, against €52,760 across Co. Tipperary 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).