Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 45.7: Swanlinbar is older than 99% of Irish towns
Across Ireland’s towns, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; in Swanlinbar, 1%. Higher than in 94% of Irish towns: 3.6% of homes are holiday homes. Census day 2022: 222 residents and 98 households here. Here, just over four in five residents said they are Catholic.
Swanlinbar changed by +1% from 2016 to 2022, slower than 86% 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.
Elsewhere, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +10% across Co. Cavan’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 23% in Swanlinbar, more than in 95% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
55–59 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents, 1.6 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 9.5% here, fewer than in 97% of Irish towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 14% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Cavan 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A smaller share of students among residents 15 and over than 99% of Irish towns: 6.6%
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
With residents who moved in within the year at 4.1%, Swanlinbar is behind 94% of Irish towns on that count. As a reference point, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
One-person homes: 44% of households in Swanlinbar
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: 30%, below 86% of Irish towns. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.
38% of households have no car or van, a share 89% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
Here 6.1% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 12%. One household in 3 has no car or van.
€29,930 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.
Half of Swanlinbar’s households have a gross income below €29,930 a year, 50% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Co. Cavan as a whole has a median of €52,320.
39% of residents were born outside Ireland, a share 91% of Irish towns don’t reach
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 45%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 45%
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, 15% of residents are citizens of another country; in Swanlinbar, 19%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in the UK (21%) and elsewhere in the EU (14%). For comparison, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 96% of Irish towns, at 0.5%
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
Within Co. Cavan, Cavan has the largest share, 0.7%. As a yardstick, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of residents with no religion than 86% of Irish towns, at 12%
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: 83% of Swanlinbar · Co. Cavan’s towns 80% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (15%), Asian or Asian Irish (1%) and Irish Traveller (0.5%). Across Ireland’s towns, 17% of residents said they have no religion. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish are more common here than in 68% of Irish towns.
37% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 74% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 5%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. On average, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Only 19% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Swanlinbar
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate qualifications are held by 2.7% of adults here, while 20% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Adults with a degree or higher: 36% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Every nearby town is younger than Swanlinbar
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanlinbar | 222 | — | 45.7 | 23% | 30% |
| Ballyconnell | 1,422 | 12.0 km | 36.4 | 13% | 43% |
| Ballinamore | 1,112 | 17.0 km | 39.3 | 20% | 36% |
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 Swanlinbar’s residents
What is the population of Swanlinbar?
Swanlinbar had 222 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 1% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Swanlinbar?
The median age is 45.7. 22% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Swanlinbar?
24% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (50 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Swanlinbar?
83% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 39% were born abroad and 19% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Swanlinbar?
82% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 6.5% another religion; 3.2% didn’t say.
Is Swanlinbar good for families?
30% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Swanlinbar are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Swanlinbar?
Median gross household income in Swanlinbar was €29,930 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).