The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (19 Decemebr 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 8 – The Irish Language and Education. This press release highlights some of the main results for Cork. A full list of county press releases is available.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie | |
| pressoffice@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, Deirdre Lynch, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Profile 8 looks at two distinct aspects of the Census 2022 results, the Irish language and the education of the population in detail. The report includes details on how many of us speak Irish, how often we do so, and to what level it is spoken. The topic of Education provides insights into the levels of qualifications achieved in the population, the age full-time education is ceased, early school leavers by age and sex, as well as the relationships between level of education and employment and economic status.”
Some highlights for Cork
Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas
The population of the Cork Gaeltacht increased from just over 3,900 people in Census 2016 to 4,110 people in Census 2022. This included 3,972 people aged three and over, and of these 2,942 people could speak Irish.
The number of people speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system increased from 246 to 292. There were 555 people who spoke Irish daily outside the education system only, which was down from 626 in 2016. The number of people who spoke Irish weekly (outside the education system only) fell slightly to 432 from 437.
The Irish language question was expanded in Census 2022 to ask those who spoke Irish how well they spoke it. There were 1,167 people who spoke Irish very well while 1,094 spoke it well and 638 did not speak it well.
Irish Speakers Overall
The number of people (aged three and over) who could speak Irish in Cork increased by just over 14,000 to 238,226 in Census 2022. This was 44.8% of the county’s population aged three and over, compared with 44.1% in Census 2016. Nationally, almost 1.9 million people could speak Irish, or 40% of all people aged three and over. This was up by more than 112,500 people since 2016 (+6%).
More females than males in Cork could speak Irish. In the Cork City Council area, more than 46,300 females could speak Irish while nearly 39,200 males could do so. There were just over 83,000 female speakers in the county area and almost 69,600 male speakers.
Females nationally were also more likely to be able to speak Irish than males, accounting for 55% of all Irish speakers.
Where People Spoke Irish
The number of people speaking Irish daily (within the education system only) increased slightly, from almost 68,000 in Census 2016 to 68,539 in Census 2022. There were 4,819 people speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only) compared with 4,984 people in 2016. There were 13,737 people speaking Irish weekly (outside the education system only), up from 13,430 people who did so in 2016.
Fluency in Speaking Irish
Among Irish speakers in the Cork City Council area 9,603 people spoke the language very well (11%), while almost 27,000 could speak it well (31%) and nearly 47,000 could not speak the language well (55%).
The picture was similar among Irish speakers in the County Council area, where almost 15,000 people (10%) spoke the language very well, with just over 49,000 speaking it well (32%) and 84,607 not being able to speak it well (55%).
In Ireland overall, 10% of Irish speakers could speak the language very well with 32% speaking it well and 55% not speaking it well.
Level of Education
The number of people with a third level qualification in Cork rose from just under 145,000 in 2016 to almost 180,300 in 2022, a rate of 47%, which was just above the national rate of 45%. There were 5,342 people in Cork who held a PhD, which was 14% of all PhD holders in the country.
Over 99,000 people, or 26% of all those aged 15 and over, had completed their full-time education at upper secondary level. This was up from almost 98,000 in 2016. Nationally, almost 867,400 people had completed their education at upper secondary level (26%).
Nearly 52,000 people in Cork in Census 2022 (13% of all those aged 15 and over) had completed their education at lower secondary level, compared with almost 52,800 people in Census 2016 who indicated they had done so. More than 446,000 people nationally had completed their education at lower secondary level (13%).
More than 32,500 people aged 15 and over had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (8%). This was down from just over 38,700 people in 2016. Nationally, nearly 332,500 people had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (10%).
Age Completing Education
The average age at which people completed their full-time education increased in all counties between Census 2016 and Census 2022. In Cork the average age rose from 20.2 years to 21 years. Nationally the average age went from 19.9 years to 20.8 years.