Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0In Blacklion, 17% of homes are holiday homes, more than in 99% of Irish towns
4% of residents are aged 15 to 24; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 12%. Blacklion had 175 residents in 70 households at the 2022 Census. One-person households: 43% of the total. More residents who describe themselves as White Irish than in 97% of Irish towns: 90%.
+5% since 2016: slower than 68% of Irish towns
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.
The median across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Cavan’s towns +10%.
Older than 91% of Irish towns: half of Blacklion is over 42.3
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 40–44, with just over one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Ireland’s towns. More residents aged 65 and over than in 86% of Irish towns: 19%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Cavan 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
Fewer students among residents 15 and over than 99% of Irish towns: 0.7%
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
41% of Blacklion’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 19% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 12%, more than in 83% of Irish towns.
Blacklion households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 96% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Cavan’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Households of parents with children: 34% here and 43% across Ireland’s towns. Lower than in 57% of Irish towns: 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Blacklion ranks below 85% of Irish towns on households in flats: 5.7%
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
The share of households with broadband is 87%; 10% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). At 17%, the share of households without a car or van is lower than in 52% of Irish towns. Across the comparison, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
€38,380 a year is the median household income here
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €38,380 a year before tax, the median household income is 36% under that of Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Cavan as a whole, the figure is €52,320.
33% of residents were born outside Ireland, more than in 87% of Irish towns
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 40%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
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.
Most residents from abroad were born in the UK (25%) or outside the EU and UK (2.3%). Higher than in 52% of Irish towns: 15% of residents are citizens of another country. Across the comparison, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 90% of Irish towns, at 0.6%
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
Top of Co. Cavan: Cavan, at 0.7%. Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.1% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Blacklion sits above 94% of Irish towns for residents who said they are Catholic (82%)
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: 90% of Blacklion · Co. Cavan’s towns 80% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Just over one in ten residents said they have no religion, against 17% across Ireland’s towns. Elsewhere, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
Above 96% of Irish towns: 43% of residents 15 and over are married
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.
In Blacklion, 4% of residents give unpaid care, beside 5.4% across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A higher share of adults with a degree or higher than 57% of Irish towns, at 39%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate: 16% of adults. Across the comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Primary level or earlier: 9.8%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Cavan’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Cavan’s towns of 2,500 or more and over 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 Blacklion’s residents
What is the population of Blacklion?
Blacklion had 175 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Blacklion?
The median age is 42.3. 21% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Blacklion?
40% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (62 people), and 0.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Blacklion?
90% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 33% were born abroad and 15% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Blacklion?
82% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 7.5% another religion; 8.6% didn’t say.
Is Blacklion good for families?
34% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Blacklion are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Blacklion?
Median gross household income in Blacklion was €38,380 in 2022, against €52,320 across Co. Cavan 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).