Photo: Joseph Mischyshyn · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of Irish towns: half of An Fál Carrach is over 45.8
Set against 78% across Ireland’s towns, just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White Irish in An Fál Carrach. The share of one-person households stands at 39%. 3.8% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 93% of Irish towns. In 2022, the Census found 829 residents in the town, living in 366 households.
What stands out about the people of An Fál Carrach
Irish spoken every day, in the Gaeltacht
24% of residents speak Irish every day outside education, more than in 99% of Irish towns; 71% can speak it. An Fál Carrach is in the Gaeltacht. Irish speakers ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A larger share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 99% of Irish towns: 24%
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 Fál Carrach is in the Gaeltacht, the districts where Irish is the community language. The ability to speak Irish extends to 503 residents (71% of those aged 3 and over).
An Fál Carrach changed by +6% from 2016 to 2022, slower than 58% 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 +6% across Co. Donegal’s towns.
23% of An Fál Carrach is 65 or over, a higher share than 95% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Set against 12% across Ireland’s towns, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in An Fál Carrach. Measured more widely, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 81% of Irish towns: 5.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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
Across Ireland’s towns, just over a third of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in An Fál Carrach, 28% and 20%. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 7.5%.
Smaller households than 95% of Irish towns: 2.2 people on average
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.
Here just over a third of households are parents with children, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 43%. In An Fál Carrach, 5.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
More holiday homes than 99% of Irish towns: 11%
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 figure for households without a car or van is 31% in An Fál Carrach and 17% across Ireland’s towns. Holiday homes make up 0.2% across Ireland’s towns.
Median gross household income: €36,150 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€36,150 a year before tax puts the median household 40% below Ireland (€60,120). Co. Donegal’s median household income is €42,500.
Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 90% of Irish towns: 7.6%
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.
Most residents from abroad were born in the UK (16%) or outside the EU and UK (2.8%). The usual figure: 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Residents born outside Ireland: 22%, near enough the figure across Ireland’s towns.
In An Fál Carrach, 6.9% 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: 91% of An Fál Carrach · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (5.1%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.9%) and Other, including mixed (0.8%). Typically, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. 89% of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 99% of Irish towns.
Above 87% of Irish towns: 6.4% of residents give unpaid care
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.
By its share of married residents 15 and over (33%), An Fál Carrach is below nearly two thirds of Irish towns. Set beside that, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 23% in An Fál Carrach, less than in 82% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, 6% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 21% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
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 Fál Carrach’s residents
What is the population of An Fál Carrach?
An Fál Carrach had 829 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in An Fál Carrach?
The median age is 45.8. 21% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in An Fál Carrach?
71% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (503 people), and 24% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is An Fál Carrach?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 22% were born abroad and 7.6% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in An Fál Carrach?
89% are Catholic, 6.9% have no religion and 4.3% another religion; 11% didn’t say.
Is An Fál Carrach good for families?
35% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near An Fál Carrach are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in An Fál Carrach?
Median gross household income in An Fál Carrach was €36,150 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).