Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0In Leighlinbridge, 33% of households are one person living alone, more than in 93% of Irish towns
Half of Leighlinbridge’s residents are over 40.4, older than in four fifths of Irish towns. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 959, in 376 households. On the census count, 83% of residents said they are Catholic. Shared households of unrelated adults: 2.9% here and 4.7% across Ireland’s towns.
From 2016 to 2022, 81% of Irish towns grew faster than Leighlinbridge: +2%
Residents at the 2016 and 2022 censuses, on 2022 boundaries, and the change beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Change, 2016 to 2022
CSO publishes yearly population estimates for counties and regions, not towns, so the trend is two censuses rather than a line; 2016 ages aren’t on 2022 boundaries, so there is no change by age.
Elsewhere, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +9% across Co. Carlow’s towns.
A higher share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 66% of Irish towns, at 13%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
50–54 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 14% of residents are 65 or over. Set beside that, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Carlow 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Only 5.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Leighlinbridge
CSO’s social classes (everyone, by their own or their family’s occupation), the occupations of those at work, and where residents lived a year before the Census.
Residents by social class · all residents
Where residents lived a year earlier
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Workers by occupation · residents at work
29% of Leighlinbridge’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 21% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
Leighlinbridge households average 2.4 people, smaller than in 82% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Carlow’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Households of parents with children make up 41%, against 43% across Ireland’s towns.
More holiday homes than 89% of Irish towns: 1.4% of homes
Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Internet at home · share of households
Home broadband covers four in five households, while 17% go without the internet (typical: 7.6%). The benchmark for holiday homes across Ireland’s towns: 0.2%. For Leighlinbridge, the census puts households without a car or van at 16%. 11% of households live in a flat or apartment, less than in 57% of Irish towns, against a typical 12% across Ireland’s towns.
The median household brings in €51,550 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€51,550 a year before tax puts the median household 14% below Ireland (€60,120). Co. Carlow’s median household income is €53,120.
Leighlinbridge ranks below 82% of Irish towns on residents born outside Ireland: 16%
Place of birth and citizenship as CSO asks them: born abroad includes Irish citizens born abroad.
Born abroad, by birthplace · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.
Other languages · share of all residents
CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.
Polish leads the languages spoken at home (3.2%), among the 12% who speak another language there; 2.2% speak English not well or not at all. Few places have so few residents with another country’s citizenship: 10% here, fewer than in three quarters of Irish towns. The usual figure: 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
Able to speak Irish: 39% in Leighlinbridge
Residents aged 3 and over who can speak Irish, and how often they speak it outside education (CSO).
Irish speakers · residents aged 3 and over
352 residents, nearly two fifths of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. The highest share in Co. Carlow belongs to Carlow (1.2%). Nothing unusual on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.9%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns.
Residents with no religion: 9.5%, a lower share than 95% of Irish towns
Ethnic or cultural background and religion, in CSO’s categories, as people described themselves.
Ethnic groups other than White Irish · all residents
White Irish, not charted: 85% of Leighlinbridge · Co. Carlow’s towns 79% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the most common groups are Other White (9%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.7%) and Other, including mixed (1.5%). Measured more widely, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. At 85%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish is higher than in 79% of Irish towns.
Leighlinbridge: 35% of residents 15 and over are married, above 54% of Irish towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.
Partnership status · residents 15 and over
The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.
The share of unpaid carers stands at 5.2%. 52% of Leighlinbridge’s residents 15 and over are single and 35% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
Leighlinbridge ranks below 70% of Irish towns on adults with a degree or higher: 28%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Primary level or earlier: 12%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Postgraduate: 8.2% of adults.
1 of the 4 nearest towns are older than Leighlinbridge
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leighlinbridge | 959 | — | 40.4 | 14% | 41% |
| Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) | 2,945 | 4.3 km | 39.8 | 18% | 43% |
| Carlow | 27,351 | 11.7 km | 36.3 | 12% | 43% |
| Castlecomer | 1,496 | 17.0 km | 40.5 | 19% | 47% |
| Tullow | 5,138 | 18.2 km | 36.2 | 12% | 46% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Carlow’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Carlow has fewer than five towns of 2,500 or more, so its figure is the median of its towns of 1,000 or more; the national figure is the median of the Irish towns of 2,500 or more (city totals left out). Percentiles are within Ireland only.
- The earlier population is an estimate. Towns had no official 2016 count on today’s boundaries, so the 2016 figure is CSO’s electoral-division count shared out by where people lived in 2022: read a small town in a large rural division loosely.
- What these tables don’t give. The small-area tables give no year of arrival and no hours of care, and a town’s electoral divisions run past its edge, so the page doesn’t split a town into named areas (a city lists its neighbourhoods).
- The census’s own words. Born abroad, citizenship, ethnic or cultural background and religion are CSO’s questions and categories; the page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Leighlinbridge’s residents
What is the population of Leighlinbridge?
Leighlinbridge had 959 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Leighlinbridge?
The median age is 40.4. 23% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Leighlinbridge?
39% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (352 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Leighlinbridge?
85% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 16% were born abroad and 10% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Leighlinbridge?
83% are Catholic, 9.5% have no religion and 7.1% another religion; 2.8% didn’t say.
Is Leighlinbridge good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Leighlinbridge are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Leighlinbridge?
Median gross household income in Leighlinbridge was €51,550 in 2022, against €53,120 across Co. Carlow and €60,120 for Ireland.
Sources: CSO, Census of Population 2022, Small Area Population Statistics · CSO PxStat FP009 (2016 by electoral division) · CSO GPIIA, household income 2022. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).