According to the 2016 census the population of Gort an Choirce was 185,[1] with 41.6% of people speaking Irish on a daily basis outside the education system.

[5] The official name of the townland is Gort an Choirce (anglicised to Gortahork), meaning "oat field".

[7] The village has a history of local enterprise, shops, forges, hotels, post office halls, and other meeting places for the communities in the surrounding areas.

[citation needed] It is claimed that a Charlie McGee, from Inishbofin, four miles offshore from Gort a' Choirce, was the first person to have been killed in the 1916 Easter Rising.

[8] McGee, who was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), was shot on duty while in Castlebellingham, County Louth.

Among those who attended the college were Pádraig Pearse, Joseph Mary Plunkett and Roger Casement – three participants in the 1916 Rising.