Photo: Darren J. Prior · CC BY 4.0Older than 98% of Irish towns: half of An Bun Beag is over 45.2
The share of residents who said they are Catholic is 88%, against 71% across Ireland’s towns. An Bun Beag has more one-person households than 93% of Irish towns, at 33%. There were 308 households in the town at the 2022 Census, home to 749 residents. For An Bun Beag, the census puts holiday homes at 20%.
What stands out about the people of An Bun Beag
Irish spoken every day, in the Gaeltacht
57% of residents speak Irish every day outside education, more than in 99% of Irish towns; 82% can speak it. An Bun Beag is in the Gaeltacht. Irish speakers ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
57% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, a share 99% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
An Bun Beag is in the Gaeltacht, the districts where Irish is the community language. Irish speakers number 570, or just over four in five residents aged 3 and over.
An Bun Beag changed by +3% from 2016 to 2022, slower than 77% 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 change is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +6% across Co. Donegal’s towns.
In An Bun Beag, 23% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 95% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 45–49: 7.7% of residents. The usual figure: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. Nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 97% of Irish towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 3.9%, a lower share than 95% 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
By occupation, skilled trades are over-represented: 15%, against a typical 11%. Residents who moved in within the year: 7.5% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
An Bun Beag households average 2.4 people, smaller than in 86% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Donegal’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Across Ireland’s towns, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; in An Bun Beag, 2.6%. On top of that, the town has fewer households of parents with children than 72% of Irish towns, at 38%.
Households in flats: 8.1%, a lower share than 74% of Irish towns
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
Across Ireland’s towns, 17% of households have no car or van; in An Bun Beag, 13%. On average, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
Household income, middle of the range: €41,480 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €41,480 a year before tax, the median household income is 31% under that of Ireland (€60,120). County median: €42,500 (Co. Donegal).
More residents born outside Ireland than 73% of Irish towns: 28%
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.
Most residents from abroad were born in the UK (17%) or in Poland (3.6%). The benchmark for residents born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns: 22%. At 11%, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is lower than in 69% of Irish towns.
In An Bun Beag, 7.1% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 99% 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 An Bun Beag · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish is 78%; An Bun Beag has 87%. Beyond White Irish, the biggest groups are Other White (8.2%), Asian or Asian Irish (4.7%) and Other, including mixed (0.3%). The wider picture: 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
An Bun Beag: 41% of residents 15 and over are married, above 93% 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.
Compared with 5.4% across Ireland’s towns, 7.6% of residents give unpaid care here. Across the comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Below 63% of Irish towns: 31% 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
Of An Bun Beag’s adults, 10% went on to postgraduate study and 16% left 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 An Bun Beag
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An Bun Beag | 749 | — | 45.2 | 23% | 38% |
| An Clochán Liath | 1,247 | 13.9 km | 48.4 | 24% | 36% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Donegal’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Donegal’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).
- Speaking Irish. CSO asks everyone aged 3 and over whether they can speak Irish and how often; “daily outside education” leaves out speaking it only at school.
- 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 An Bun Beag’s residents
What is the population of An Bun Beag?
An Bun Beag had 749 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in An Bun Beag?
The median age is 45.2. 21% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in An Bun Beag?
82% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (570 people), and 57% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is An Bun Beag?
87% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 28% were born abroad and 11% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in An Bun Beag?
88% are Catholic, 7.1% have no religion and 4.9% another religion; 4.5% didn’t say.
Is An Bun Beag good for families?
38% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near An Bun Beag are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in An Bun Beag?
Median gross household income in An Bun Beag was €41,480 in 2022, against €42,500 across Co. Donegal 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).