A report published in 2007 listed Millstreet as having the highest percentage of Polish nationals (14.17%)  in the community in all of Ireland. Since the recession has visited us, I know that quite a few of the Poles have returned to their homeland, but then a lot of our own younger generation have left or are going to leave for distant shores in search of work also, so it’s hard to say what the percentage is nowadays. Anyway, the short article can be read below:

20 Most popular towns for Poles in Ireland

People born in Poland but living in Ireland numbered 96042 at the last census in 2006.
Some Irish towns have higher percentages of Polish residents than others – these are the 20 with the highest percentages of Poles

Millstreet, Cork (14.17%)
Bunclody-Carrickduff, Carlow/Wexford (9.4%)
Ballinrobe, Mayo (8.81%)
Ballyjamesduff, Cavan (8.73%)
Tullow, Carlow (8.17%)
Kingscourt, Cavan (8.12%)
New Ross, Wexford/Kilkenny (8.10%)
Macroom, Cork (7.31%)
Killarney, Kerry (7.1%)
Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim/Roscommon (6.94%)
Portumna, Galway (6.82%)
Cahir, South Tipperary (6.72%)
Monaghan, Monaghan (6.34%)
Rathcormac, Cork (5.95%)
Oranmore, Galway (5.89%)
Kanturk, Cork (5.88%)
Longford, Longford (5.57%)
Ballyhaunis, Mayo (5.44%)
Clonee Village, Meath (5.25%)
Kilcock, Kildare (5.12%)

article from the Irish Towns Guide website

Added April 2010 from a 2007 article in the Irish Independent newspaper

In Millstreet, 195 of the town’s 1,376 population are Polish. Local councillor Noel Buckley (FG) says they came for the work.

“They’ve been very successful because the building trade is good, but they’re also working for farmers, in factories and for local entrepreneurs,” he said.

“A fair minority are families, but there’s a lot of single people. But what’s going to happen if the building trade slows down or the economy takes a downswing? Maybe there will be some problems, but hopefully it won’t come to that.”

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