Photo: Bogman · CC BY-SA 2.5Half of Lehinch is over 44.1, older than 97% of Irish towns
Against a figure of 12% across Ireland’s towns, the share of households in flats in Lehinch comes in at 4.3%. Its 374 households held 1,018 residents at the 2022 Census. Locally, 87% of residents describe themselves as White Irish. 35% of households are one person living alone, a higher share than in 95% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Lehinch
One home in 2 is a holiday home
About 510 of 1,010 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (50%), more than in 99% of Irish towns; 11% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Lehinch’s residents are under 44.1 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 21% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Growth of +8% since 2016 puts Lehinch ahead of 55% 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.
21% of Lehinch is 65 or over, a higher share than 92% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across Ireland’s towns. On average, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Clare 51.5%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
8.2% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 91% of Irish towns
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
44% of Lehinch’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 8.4% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. The town has more residents who moved in within the year than 69% of Irish towns, at 9%.
Lehinch sits below 80% of Irish towns for households of parents with children (33%)
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Clare’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Compared with 4.7% across Ireland’s towns, 7.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. For comparison, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns. Households here average 2.4 people each.
Lehinch sits above 99% of Irish towns for holiday homes (50%)
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
Internet at home: broadband for 85%, nothing for 13% (typical: 7.6%). Set beside that, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns. Census figures put households without a car or van at 8.3% in Lehinch.
Half of households earn more than €44,930 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €44,930 sits 25% below Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €54,650 across Co. Clare.
17% of residents were born outside Ireland, fewer than in 74% 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 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.
The most common home language after English is Polish (2.9%); in all 9.4% speak another language, and 2% speak English not well or not at all. The comparison figure for residents born outside Ireland is 22% across Ireland’s towns. Residents with another country’s citizenship are rarer here than in 75% of Irish towns.
A larger share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 93% of Irish towns: 2.1%
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
456 residents, 54% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. On average, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
In Lehinch, 74% of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 67% 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: 87% of Lehinch · Co. Clare’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents with no religion tops 61% of Irish towns: 19%. Across Ireland’s towns, 71% of residents said they are Catholic. Next after White Irish come Other White (9.2%), Irish Traveller (1.4%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.4%).
6.6% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 92% 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.
Married residents 15 and over make up 36%, against 34% across Ireland’s towns. Unpaid carers make up 5.4% across Ireland’s towns.
Lehinch sits above 71% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (46%)
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 16% of adults here, while 4.9% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Measured more widely, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The places around Lehinch
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehinch | 1,018 | — | 44.1 | 21% | 33% |
| Ennistimon | 1,137 | 3.2 km | 40.5 | 21% | 35% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Clare’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Clare’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 Lehinch’s residents
What is the population of Lehinch?
Lehinch had 1,018 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Lehinch?
The median age is 44.1. 20% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Lehinch?
54% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (456 people), and 2.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Lehinch?
87% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 17% were born abroad and 10% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Lehinch?
74% are Catholic, 19% have no religion and 6.7% another religion; 14% didn’t say.
Is Lehinch good for families?
33% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 20% of residents are under 18. Schools near Lehinch are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Lehinch?
Median gross household income in Lehinch was €44,930 in 2022, against €54,650 across Co. Clare 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).