Photo: Chris Gorringe · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 98% of Irish towns: half of Rosslare is over 45.2
Across Ireland’s towns, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment; in Rosslare, 5.6%. For Rosslare, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 1.9%. At 31%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 86% of Irish towns. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 1,795, in 640 households.
What stands out about the people of Rosslare
One home in 2 is a holiday home
About 920 of 1,650 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (56%), more than in 99% of Irish towns; 4.4% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Rosslare’s residents are under 45.2 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 24% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Rosslare changed by +6% from 2016 to 2022, slower than 61% 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.
For comparison, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +11% across Co. Wexford’s towns.
24% of Rosslare is 65 or over, a higher share than 98% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns, Rosslare has 10%. Set beside that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Wexford 51.3%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Students among residents 15 and over: 8.1%, a lower share than 92% 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
Nearly two fifths of Rosslare’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. In Rosslare, 6.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Rosslare sits below 77% of Irish towns for households of parents with children (36%)
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, households average 2.7 people; in Rosslare, 2.4. Households of parents with children: 43% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Rosslare sits above 99% of Irish towns for holiday homes (56%)
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
Broadband: 85% of households. The share of holiday homes across Ireland’s towns is 0.2%. Rosslare has fewer households without a car or van than 71% of Irish towns, at 12%. No internet at all: 7.2% (typical: 7.6%).
€45,570 a year: the median household income
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €45,570 a year, 24% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Wexford has a median of €51,440.
Rosslare sits below 81% of Irish towns for residents with another country’s citizenship (9.3%)
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.
Against a figure of 22% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents born outside Ireland in Rosslare comes in at 17%. Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 15% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born in the UK (8.2%) and outside the EU and UK (4.2%).
Irish: 37% of Rosslare’s residents can speak it
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 609, or 37% of residents aged 3 and over. Daily speakers of Irish outside education are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 1.1%.
More residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 85% of Irish towns: 87%
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: 87% of Rosslare · Co. Wexford’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (11%), Asian or Asian Irish (0.8%) and Other, including mixed (0.5%). At 77%, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is higher than in 82% of Irish towns. As a reference point, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Residents with no religion: 17%, near enough the figure across Ireland’s towns.
Rosslare sits above 84% of Irish towns for married residents 15 and over (39%)
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.
Here 6.4% of residents give unpaid care, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 5.4%. Typically, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Rosslare sits below 55% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (34%)
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 13% of adults; primary level or less for 7.5% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Across the comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The towns around Rosslare are all younger
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosslare | 1,795 | — | 45.2 | 24% | 36% |
| Rosslare Harbour | 2,247 | 4.5 km | 42.3 | 19% | 38% |
| Wexford | 21,524 | 9.0 km | 40.6 | 17% | 40% |
| Castlebridge | 1,850 | 13.5 km | 40.1 | 14% | 46% |
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 Rosslare’s residents
What is the population of Rosslare?
Rosslare had 1,795 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rosslare?
The median age is 45.2. 23% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rosslare?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (609 people), and 1.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rosslare?
87% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 17% were born abroad and 9.3% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rosslare?
77% are Catholic, 17% have no religion and 6.2% another religion; 4.3% didn’t say.
Is Rosslare good for families?
36% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rosslare are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rosslare?
Median gross household income in Rosslare was €45,570 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).