01.4 Cork City Traveller Population
On the other hand, there may have been an aspect of inadvertent double counting in the Cork City Annual Traveller Count, with different members of the same family unit liaising separately with the Council. In addition, there is an issue in differentiating between household numbers and family numbers, as multi-generational households are more prevalent in Traveller households. This can lead to issues as Census records are based on households, while the Annual Traveller Count records the number of families. Cork City Council have made extensive efforts to address these issues in the 2023 Annual Count data. The various data streams have been rigorously checked and cross-referenced. Upgrades to the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) recording system have led to a figure revision, with a reduction being recorded in the number of families in the city. At 510 families, this is now more in line with the 2022 Census household data.
The 2022 Census reported that there were 1,442 Travellers 8 recorded in 381 private households within the Cork City area. The average number of people per household was c. 3.78, slightly below the national average Traveller household size of 4. The number of households is significantly lower than the 579 Traveller families recorded in the 2022 Annual Count of Traveller Families residing in Cork City. This difference may be attributed to a number of factors. While significant effort went into the 2022 Census to improve the return rate amongst Travellers, it remains likely that the Census figure is an underestimate, with an element of the community remaining ‘hidden’ from official records.
Figure 4 Cork City Traveller Statistics
8 The Census 2022 generally returns a Traveller population figure combined with Cork County of 2376. However, different figures are reported in different CSO Tables for this, ranging from 2089 in FY26B & F5093 to 2975 in F50000072.
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Cork City Council | Traveller Accommodation Programme 2025-2029
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