Photo: Joseph Mischyshyn · CC BY-SA 2.0Ardara sits above 99% of Irish towns for holiday homes (12%)
Here 21% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 14%. Locally, 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. At 35%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 95% of Irish towns. 785 residents in 323 households: that is Ardara at the 2022 Census.
Growth of +9% since 2016 puts Ardara ahead of 57% 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.
A median age of 40.8: Ardara is older than 83% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: 7.8% of residents. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 60% of Irish towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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 85% of Irish towns: 5.1% 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
The biggest occupational gap is in process, plant and machine operatives: 17%, against a typical 7.8%. Across the comparison, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns. Census figures put students among residents 15 and over at 12% in Ardara.
Ardara households average 2.3 people, smaller than in 91% 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.
Where 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns, Ardara has 36%.
More car-free households than 74% of Irish towns: 24% in Ardara
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
Broadband: four in five households. Households without a car or van: 17% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. Few places have as many households in flats: 16% here, more than in 64% of Irish towns.
Household income, middle of the range: €38,450 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €38,450 gross, 36% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Donegal has a median of €42,500.
Ardara ranks below 65% of Irish towns on residents with another country’s citizenship: 12%
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.
Another language is spoken at home by 11%, most often Polish (1.1%); 1.8% speak English not well or not at all. Lower than in 53% of Irish towns: 21% of residents were born outside Ireland. By way of comparison, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
2.7% of residents speak Irish every day outside education
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
The ability to speak Irish extends to 278 residents (38% of those aged 3 and over). Across Ireland’s towns, daily speakers of Irish outside education come to 1.1%.
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish make up 86% in Ardara, more than in 81% 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: 86% of Ardara · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Across Ireland’s towns, 71% of residents said they are Catholic; in Ardara, 75%. After White Irish, the most common groups are Other White (11%), Other, including mixed (1.8%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.8%). The town has more residents with no religion than 52% of Irish towns, at 18%. By way of comparison, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
Only 33% of residents 15 and over are married in Ardara
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. Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents 15 and over are married.
28% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 69% of Irish towns
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 10% of adults here, while 15% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Typically, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The places around Ardara
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardara | 785 | — | 40.8 | 21% | 36% |
| Killybegs | 1,258 | 14.2 km | 46.2 | 26% | 39% |
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).
- 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 Ardara’s residents
What is the population of Ardara?
Ardara had 785 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ardara?
The median age is 40.8. 21% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ardara?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (278 people), and 2.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ardara?
86% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 21% were born abroad and 12% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ardara?
75% are Catholic, 18% have no religion and 7.2% another religion; 3.1% didn’t say.
Is Ardara good for families?
36% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ardara are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ardara?
Median gross household income in Ardara was €38,450 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).