Number of people in Kilkenny who speak Irish daily drops slightly

There has been a marginal reduction in the number of people who speak as Gaeilge daily outside of the education system in Kilkenny, according to data published today from Census 2016.

In April 2016, just 960 people here indicated they spoke Irish daily outside the education system - 45 fewer people than in 2011. They comprised only 1% of the county's population aged 3 and over, compared to 1.7% at national level, and 1.2% for Leinster.

However, of those aged 3 and over in this county, 38,722 people said they could speak Irish. That's a minor increase on the 38,619 who said they could do so in 2011.

The growth in population means that these speakers made up 40.7% of the county’s population last year compared with 42.5% in 2011. Nationally, it's above the curve, where 39.8% of those aged 3 and over indicated they could speak Irish.

The data has been published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today in its penultimate Census 2016 report, Profile 10 - Education, Skills and the Irish Language. The publication presents details on the education and skills of the Irish population along with information on the Irish language.

Click here for full report.