Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 97% of Irish towns: half of Fethard is over 44.2
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish make up 94%, against 78% across Ireland’s towns. Census day 2022: 363 residents and 157 households in Fethard. In Fethard, 47% of homes are holiday homes. 30% of households are one person living alone, a higher share than in 81% of Irish towns.
A +15% change since 2016: faster than 81% 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. Wexford’s towns the median is +11%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
15% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 87% of Irish towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
50–54 is the most common age band: just over one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. Here, 18% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Wexford 51.3%, Ireland 51.2%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 2.5%, 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
Workers here lean to caring, leisure and other services: 21%, against a typical 8.3%. By way of comparison, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns. The census found that just over one in ten residents 15 and over are students in Fethard.
2.4 people per household, fewer than in 86% 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.
By its share of shared households of unrelated adults (5.7%), Fethard is above 60% of Irish towns. Across Fethard, 42% of households are parents with children.
Fewer flats than 97% of Irish towns: 1.9% of households
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
Households without a car or van make up 11%, against 17% across Ireland’s towns. The benchmark for households in flats across Ireland’s towns: 12%.
Household income, middle of the range: €44,080 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Fethard’s households have a gross income below €44,080 a year, 27% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Co. Wexford as a whole has a median of €51,440.
Fethard sits below 98% of Irish towns for residents born outside Ireland (9.1%)
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.
French leads the languages spoken at home (0.6%), among the 4.8% who speak another language there; 0.8% speak English not well or not at all. Measured more widely, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Few places have so few residents with another country’s citizenship: 3.3% here, fewer than in 99% of Irish towns.
In Fethard, 0.3% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 99% of Irish towns
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
Gorey leads Co. Wexford with 0.9%. As a yardstick, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
A higher share of residents who said they are Catholic than 67% of Irish towns, at 74%
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 Fethard · Co. Wexford’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (4.7%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.2%) and Irish Traveller (0.3%). A fifth of residents said they have no religion, a higher share than in 65% of Irish towns. As a yardstick, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
31% of residents 15 and over are married, below 73% 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.
Unpaid carers make up 6.1%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
20% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 90% 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, 4.6% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 16% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Every neighbour of Fethard 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fethard | 363 | — | 44.2 | 18% | 42% |
| Dunmore East | 1,731 | 11.7 km | 42.6 | 16% | 43% |
| Grantstown and Ballinakill | 9,571 | 16.6 km | 42.5 | 18% | 47% |
| Grange | 4,109 | 18.1 km | 38 | 13% | 47% |
| Grange Upper | 2,510 | 18.2 km | 37.2 | 13% | 46% |
| Ballytruckle | 6,563 | 19.2 km | 36 | 6.9% | 56% |
| Ferrybank | 5,766 | 19.2 km | 36.5 | 11% | 53% |
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 Fethard’s residents
What is the population of Fethard?
Fethard had 363 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 15% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Fethard?
The median age is 44.2. 19% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Fethard?
32% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (99 people), and 0.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Fethard?
94% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 9.1% were born abroad and 3.3% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Fethard?
74% are Catholic, 20% have no religion and 6.3% another religion; 13% didn’t say.
Is Fethard good for families?
42% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 19% of residents are under 18. Schools near Fethard are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fethard?
Median gross household income in Fethard was €44,080 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).