The 2011 Census of Ireland will be carried out on 10 April. The most previous census, in 2006, showed that the population of Paulstown increased by over 100%, from 292 to 598.[1] This is a tremendous change for any area in such a short amount of time.
To give some idea of the changing population of the village in the 20th and 21st centuries, I have included some demographic statistics from the Central Statistics Office in Ireland. It is important to remember that these figures cannot be compared against each other when two different area definitions are used.
Currently, I am unaware of what townlands are included in the Paulstown Electoral District. Ancedotal evidence would suggest that it might be just the three townlands where the village is located, namely Shankill, Paulstown and Kellymount.
| YEAR | POPULATION | AREA DEFINITION | |
| 2006 | 598 | Electoral District | |
| 2002 | 292 | Electoral District | |
| 1996 | 221[2] | Electoral District | |
| 1991 | 234[3] | Unknown | |
| 1971 | 459[4] | District Electoral Division | |
| 1961 | 239[5] | Cluster of 20 houses or more | |
| 1951 | 83[6] | Cluster of 20 houses or more | |
| 1946 | 89[7] | Cluster of 20 houses or more | |
| 1926 | 70[8] | Cluster of 20 houses or more | |
| 1911 | 493[9] | District Electoral Division | |
| 1901 | 349[10] | District Electoral Division | |
[1] Central Statistics Office. 2006. Alphabetical List of Towns with their population 2002-2006. http://census.cso.ie/Census/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=75478 : accessed 16 March 2011
[2] Central Statistics Office. 2002. Population of Towns ordered by County and size, 1996 and 2002 http://www.cso.ie/census/documents/vol1_t5.pdf: accessed 3 March 2011
[3] Central Statistics Office. 1991. Alphabetical list of towns tith their population in 1991 http://www.cso.ie/census/census_1991_results/Volume1/C1991_V1_T20.pdf : accessed 3 March 2011
[4] Central Statistics Office. 1971. Population, area and valuation of each district electoral division, urban district, rural district and county. http://cso.ie/census/census_1971_results/Volume1/C%201971%20V1%20T11.pdf : accessed 3 March 2011
[5] Central Statistics Office. 1961. Alphabetical List of towns with population 1961. http://www.cso.ie/census/census_1961_results/Volume1/C%201961%20VOL%201%20T15.pdf : accessed 3 March 2011
[6] Central Statistics Office. 1951. Alphabetical List of towns with population 1951. http://www.cso.ie/census/census_1951_results/Volume1/C%201951%20V1%20T14.pdf : accessed 03 march 2011
[7] Central Statistics Office. 1946. Alphabetical List of towns with population 1946. http://cso.ie/census/census_1946_results/Volume1/C%201946%20V1%20T13.pdf : accessed 03 march 2011
[8] Central Statistics Office. 1926. Alphabetical List of towns with population 1926. http://www.cso.ie/census/census_1926_results/Volume10/C%201926%20V10%20Chapter%20Appendix%20D.pdf :accessed 03 March 2011
[9]National Archives of Ireland. 2009. 1911 Census of Ireland, Paulstown District Electoral Division. http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1911&surname=&exact=&firstname=&county=Kilkenny&townland=&ded=paulstown&age=&sex=&relationToHead=&religion=&education=&occupation=&marriageStatus=&marriageYears=&childrenBorn=&childrenLiving=&birthplace=&language=&deafdumb=&search=Search&sort=&pageSize=100 : accessed 16 March 2011
[10] National Archives of Ireland. 2009. 1901 Census of Ireland, Paulstown District Electoral Division. http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?census_year=1901&surname=&firstname=&county=Kilkenny&townland=&ded=paulstown&age=&sex=&search=Search&relationToHead=&religion=&education=&occupation=&marriageStatus=&birthplace=&language=&deafdumb=&marriageYears=&childrenBorn=&childrenLiving= : accessed 16 March 2011
