Shared households of unrelated adults: 0.9%, a lower share than 99% of Irish towns
With residents who describe themselves as White Irish at 93%, Bree is ahead of 98% of Irish towns on that count. In 2022, the Census found 316 residents locally, living in 113 households. 52% of households are parents with children. Lower than in 70% of Irish towns: 12% of households have no car or van.
Faster growth than 59% of Irish towns: Bree changed by +9% 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 Co. Wexford’s towns the median is +11%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
Bree is older than 64% of Irish towns: a median age of 38.8
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 50–54: nearly one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 13%. Lower than in 52% of Irish towns: 14% of residents are 65 or over.
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. Wexford 51.3%, Ireland 51.2%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 2.2%, a lower share than 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
In Bree, the professional, managerial and technical classes take in two in five residents and the semi-skilled and unskilled classes 17%, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.5% across Ireland’s towns.
Bree households average 2.9 people, larger than in 74% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Wexford’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
A fifth of households are one person living alone, against 24% across Ireland’s towns.
More holiday homes than 79% of Irish towns: 0.8%
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: 82% have broadband, and 15% have no internet (typical: 7.6%). Set beside that, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns. Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns.
Median gross household income: €62,140 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €62,140 sits close to Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Wexford, the middle household has €51,440.
A smaller share of residents with another country’s citizenship than 98% of Irish towns: 4.9%
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.
Polish leads the languages spoken at home (1.3%), among the 5% who speak another language there; 0.6% speak English not well or not at all. The comparison figure for residents with another country’s citizenship is 15% across Ireland’s towns. 13% of residents were born outside Ireland, a lower share than in 91% of Irish towns.
A higher share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 85% of Irish towns, at 1.7%
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
Irish speakers number 124, or 43% of residents aged 3 and over. 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: 93% of Bree · Co. Wexford’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 17% across Ireland’s towns, 11% of residents said they have no religion here. Set beside that, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (5.9%), Other, including mixed (1%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.7%).
7.3% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 98% 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.
The figure for married residents 15 and over is 38% in Bree and 34% across Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
25% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 76% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Across Ireland’s towns, 9.7% of adults finished at primary level or earlier; in Bree, 11%, and 5.5% hold a postgraduate qualification. The wider picture: 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
A younger town than 2 of the 4 around it: Bree
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bree | 316 | — | 38.8 | 14% | 52% |
| Enniscorthy | 12,310 | 8.2 km | 37.5 | 15% | 41% |
| Castlebridge | 1,850 | 12.1 km | 40.1 | 14% | 46% |
| Wexford | 21,524 | 14.5 km | 40.6 | 17% | 40% |
| Ferns | 1,317 | 18.6 km | 38.1 | 16% | 43% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Wexford’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Wexford’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 Bree’s residents
What is the population of Bree?
Bree had 316 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Bree?
The median age is 38.8. 27% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Bree?
43% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (124 people), and 1.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Bree?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 13% were born abroad and 4.9% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Bree?
86% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 3.9% another religion; 3.8% didn’t say.
Is Bree good for families?
52% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 27% of residents are under 18. Schools near Bree are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Bree?
Median gross household income in Bree was €62,140 in 2022, against €51,440 across Co. Wexford 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).