Metropolitan Cork

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Metropolitan Cork
Metropolitan area
St.Patrick's Bridge.jpg
Cork, the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland
Metropolitan Cork
CountryIreland
Region County Cork
Largest city Cork (222,526) [1]
Area
 • Metro
820 km2 (320 sq mi)
Population
 (2016 [2] )
 •  Metro
305,000
 • Metro density370/km2 (960/sq mi)
GDP
[3]
 • Metro€103.206 billion

Metropolitan Cork includes the city of Cork, Ireland, its suburbs, the rural hinterland that surrounds it, and a number of the towns and villages in that hinterland. [4] Some of the latter towns and villages are within the administrative area of County Cork.

Contents

The term Metropolitan Cork was used in the Cork Area Strategic Plan to refer to the area whose labour and property market is shared with the city. [5] The plan declared that it was envisaged as an area with "an integrated transport system, and the social, cultural and educational facilities of a modern European city". [6] Metropolitan Cork is the core employment hub of the Southern Region.

According to the Cork Area Transit System (CATS) Study Final Report of February 2010, at that time, the metropolitan area covered 820 km2 and approximately 270,000 people. [7]

By mid-2018, legislation was drafted to expand the boundary of Cork city, to include a number of the metropolitan area towns (such as Blarney and Carrigtwohill). [8] [9] This change proposed to bring much of "Metropolitan Cork" within the bounds of the Cork City Council area. [8] [9] On 31 May 2019, the boundary change came into force with the city bounds being extended to include Ballincollig, Blarney, Glanmire, Rochestown, Grange and Cork Airport, and thereby increasing the city population from 125,000 to approximately 210,000. [10]

Geography

The Cork Area Strategic Plan (CASP) and subsequent regional planning documents, such as the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy, have used the term to describe a continuous urban core and a commuter belt stretching from Ovens to Midleton and Watergrasshill and Blarney to Carrigaline. [11]

The metropolitan area includes Cork City and nearby commuter towns such as Ballincollig , Blarney, Carrigaline, Carrigtwohill, Cobh, Glanmire, Glounthaune, Midleton, Passage West, and Ringaskiddy. [12] The boundary is not fixed and varies across contexts (e.g. transport, planning, and statistical definitions). [4]

Greater Cork

Greater Cork is an area that extends beyond Metropolitan Cork, and includes the Metropolitan Cork area itself (referred to in the regional planning guidelines as the "Cork Gateway"), plus Mallow and its hinterland, as well as the ring towns of Bandon, Fermoy, Kinsale, Macroom and Youghal. [13] This Greater Cork area was recorded as having a population of 377,596 in 2006. [13]

Population

The Cork City administrative area (after the 2019 boundary extension) recorded a population of 224,004 in the 2022 census, [1] while the overall population of County Cork was 584,156. [14] The population of the wider Metropolitan Cork area was estimated to be around 305,000 as of 2016. [2]

YearCork cityCork city and suburbsMetropolitan CorkGreater Cork
2000123,810 [15] —251,510 [15] 345,100 [15]
2001123,600 [16] —253,000 [16] —
2002123,062 [17] 186,239—349,388 [13]
2006119,418 [17] 190,384 [17] 274,000 [16] 377,596 [13]
2011119,230 [18] 198,582 [18] 289,739 [19] 397,800 † [20]
2016125,622 [21] 208,669 [22] 305,222 [2] —
2019210,000 ‡ [10] ——
Note: † indicates medium-migration scenario projection from 2007 CASP plan
Note: ‡ 2019 Cork boundary change brought many suburbs into Cork City Council bounds
Note: — indicates no available data.

References

  1. 1 2 "Press Statement Census of Population 2022 - Summary Results Cork - CSO - Central Statistics Office". www.cso.ie. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cork 2050 Main Report" (PDF). corkcoco.ie. Cork County Council & Cork City Council. March 2017. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2022. Cork Population Distribution [..] 2016 [..] Total Metropolitan Cork [..] 305,222
  3. ↑ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by metropolitan regions". ec.europa.eu.
  4. 1 2 Cork Area Strategic Plan (PDF) (Report). Cork City Council. 2001. p. 2. Retrieved 22 September 2018. Metropolitan Cork [..] encompasses both the City proper, and the settlements of Ballincollig, Blarney, Carrigaline, Douglas, Glanmire, Glounthane, Carrigtwohill, Midleton and Cobh
  5. ↑ "CorkCity.ie/strategiccorkguide - Local Economy - Metropolitan Cork". Archived from the original on 19 November 2007.
  6. ↑ "Cork Area Strategic Plan - CSAP - Part A" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2006.
  7. ↑ Cork Area Transit System Study - Draft Final Report (PDF) (Report). Cork City Council. April 2009. p. 1.7. Retrieved 22 September 2018. The Metropolitan area, as defined in CASP, includes Cork City and the towns and areas in the immediate hinterland [..It..] covers 820 km2, and has a population of 272,541, as determined from Census 2006
  8. 1 2 "Bill set to give effect to Cork boundary extension". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Boundary increase for Cork City Council approved by Cabinet". The Irish Times. 6 June 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Cork City's population to grow by 85,000 and expand fivefold ... at midnight". irishexaminer.com. Irish Examiner. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  11. ↑ "1. Introduction | Cork City Council's Online Consultation Portal". consult.corkcity.ie. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "Cork Area Strategic Plan – Strategy for Additional Economic and Population Growth - An Update - July 2008" (PDF). Cork City Council. July 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2018. Metropolitan Cork consists of [..] Cork City and Douglas [..] The Satellite towns of Ballincollig, Blarney, Carrigaline, Glanmire, Glounthane, Carrigtwohill, Midleton and Cobh; and [..] The existing strategic employment areas of Little Island, Carrigtwohill, Cork Airport Business Park, Ringaskiddy and Whitegate/Aghada.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Regional Planning Guidelines 2010-2022 (PDF) (Report). South West Regional Authority. pp. 16, 26. Retrieved 22 September 2018. Greater Cork, which comprises the Cork Gateway, and includes the Mallow Hub and a number of other towns known as the Ring towns (Fermoy, Youghal, Bandon, Kinsale, Macroom)
  14. ↑ "Press Statement Census of Population 2022 - Summary Results Cork - CSO - Central Statistics Office". www.cso.ie. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  15. 1 2 3 Cork Area Strategic Plan, Cork City Council and Cork County Council, 22 October, 2001 (Table 2.1 Future Population) (PDF) (Report). p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2006. 2000 Population / City: 123,810 / Rest of Metropolitan Cork: 127,700 [..] Total: 345,100
  16. 1 2 3 "Cork Joint Housing Strategy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2006.
  17. 1 2 3 "Census 2006 - Population by Alphabetical List of Towns, CensusYear and Statistic". CSO.ie. 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2018. Cork City, Cork / Population 2006 (Number): 119,418 [..] Cork Suburbs, Cork / Population 2006 (Number): 70,966
  18. 1 2 "Census 2011 - Population and Percentage Change 2006 and 2011". CSO.ie. 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2018. 2011 / Both sexes / Cork City/ Population (Number): 119,230 [..] Cork Suburbs Total, Co. Cork / Population (Number): 79,352
  19. ↑ Metropolitan Cork Joint Retail Strategy (Table 4) (PDF) (Report). Corkcitydevelopmentplan.ie. March 2015. p. 8. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  20. ↑ "CASP Supporting Analysis" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2007.
  21. ↑ "Census 2016 - Preliminary Actual and Percentage Change in Population 2011-2016". CSO.ie. 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  22. ↑ Census 2016 - Geographical distribution - Population by constituency - Chapter 2 (Table 2.2 Population of urban areas, 2011 and 2016) (PDF) (Report). CSO.ie. 2016. p. 15. Retrieved 22 September 2018.

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