Photo: Graham Horn · CC BY-SA 2.073% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, fewer than in 65% of Irish towns
Nothing unusual on holiday homes: 0.1%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. Half of Shannon’s residents are over 38.5, older than in just over three fifths of Irish towns. The town is home to 10,256 residents in 3,878 households, by the 2022 Census. Its population is up 6% on 2016.
A change of +6% since 2016 leaves Shannon behind 60% 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.
Across Ireland’s towns, the typical town changed +8%; across Co. Clare’s towns, +8%.
Shannon ranks above 71% of Irish towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 13%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 40–44: nearly one in ten residents. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Shannon, 38.5. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Clare 51.5%, Ireland 51.2%.
30% of residents belong to the professional, managerial and technical classes
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
The biggest occupational gap is in process, plant and machine operatives: 16%, against a typical 7.8%. On the census count, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Shannon households average 2.6 people, smaller than in 58% of Irish towns
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.
There is little gap on shared households of unrelated adults: 4%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. 44% of households are parents with children.
Shannon sits above 64% of Irish towns for households in flats (16%)
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
At home, 91% have broadband, while 6.9% have no internet access (typical: 7.6%). Here, 18% of households have no car or van. By way of comparison, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
Before tax, the median household income is €52,020 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€52,020 a year before tax puts the median household 13% below Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €54,650 across Co. Clare.
A larger share of residents born outside Ireland than 81% of Irish towns: 30%
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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
Another language is spoken at home by 22%, most often Polish (6.5%); 3.2% speak English not well or not at all. Here 16% of residents are citizens of another country, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 15%.
A lower share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 82% of Irish towns, at 0.7%
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
Irish speakers number 3,506, or 37% of residents aged 3 and over. In Co. Clare, Ennis has the highest share (1.6%). Measured more widely, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Fewer residents with no religion than 63% of Irish towns: 15%
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: 73% of Shannon · Co. Clare’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (14%), Asian or Asian Irish (7.6%) and Other, including mixed (2.6%). On average, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. 72% of residents said they are Catholic (Ireland’s towns: 71%).
Married residents 15 and over: 37%, a higher share than 69% 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.
Across Shannon, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care. 53% of the town’s residents 15 and over are single and 37% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
Below 79% of Irish towns: 24% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
6.7% of Shannon’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 9.5% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). The comparison figure for adults with a degree or higher is 36% across Ireland’s towns.
41 towns of 8,806 to 11,911 people: this is the 21st oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Summerhill (30.5) and the oldest Donaghmede (43.8). Nearest to Shannon in age: Tuam (38.1), Nenagh (38.4), Waterford City Centre (38.8) and Trim (38.9).
Of the 6 towns nearest Shannon, 2 are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shannon | 10,256 | — | 38.5 | 15% | 44% |
| Newmarket-On-Fergus | 1,887 | 6.1 km | 38.8 | 15% | 45% |
| Sixmilebridge | 2,832 | 7.6 km | 35.6 | 8.6% | 55% |
| Askeaton | 1,236 | 13.6 km | 38.2 | 18% | 43% |
| Caherdavin | 7,364 | 14.7 km | 35.3 | 16% | 39% |
| Ballynanty | 3,030 | 15.7 km | 35.7 | 17% | 42% |
| Farranshone | 7,874 | 16.2 km | 43.5 | 23% | 32% |
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 Shannon’s residents
What is the population of Shannon?
Shannon had 10,256 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Shannon?
The median age is 38.5, older than 61% of Irish towns. 24% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Shannon?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (3,506 people), and 0.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Shannon?
73% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 30% were born abroad and 16% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Shannon?
72% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 13% another religion; 5.1% didn’t say.
Is Shannon good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Shannon are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Shannon?
Median gross household income in Shannon was €52,020 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).