8% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% of Irish towns
Residents who said they are Catholic: 88% here and 71% across Ireland’s towns. For Ballindrait, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 12%. Households without a car or van are rarer here than in 80% of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census, 100 people lived in the town, in 41 households.
A change of −1% since 2016 leaves Ballindrait behind 96% 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.
For comparison, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +6% across Co. Donegal’s towns.
Older than 89% of Irish towns: half of Ballindrait is over 41.9
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
45–49 is the most common age band: one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over account for 20%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
5% of residents 15 and over are students, below 99% 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
In Ballindrait, the professional, managerial and technical classes take in nearly a quarter of residents and the semi-skilled and unskilled classes 16%, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Fewer residents who moved in within the year than in 94% of Irish towns: 4.2%.
Households here average 2.4 people, below 85% 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.
One-person households: 29%, above 78% of Irish towns. Across Ballindrait, 42% of households are parents with children.
Ballindrait: 2.1% of homes are holiday homes, above 91% 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
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. Elsewhere, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns. 79% have broadband at home and 18% no internet at all (typical: 7.6%).
The median household brings in €32,490 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €32,490 a year, 46% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). That compares with €42,500 across Co. Donegal.
Only 3.4% of residents are citizens of another country in Ballindrait
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland; in Ballindrait, 19%. For residents with another country’s citizenship, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 15%. The largest groups were born in the UK (18%) and outside the EU and UK (1%).
23% of Ballindrait’s residents can speak Irish
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 highest share in Co. Donegal belongs to Letterkenny (2.6%). Census figures put daily speakers of Irish outside education at 1.3% in Ballindrait.
6.1% 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: 95% of Ballindrait · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 95%, above 99% of Irish towns. The usual figure: 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
3% of residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 97% 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.
With married residents 15 and over at 36%, Ballindrait is ahead of 64% of Irish towns on that count. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 5.4% across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher: 12%, a lower share than 98% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 3.4% of adults; primary level or less for 19% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Adults with a degree or higher make up 36% across Ireland’s towns.
Ballindrait is older than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballindrait | 100 | — | 41.9 | 20% | 42% |
| Lifford | 1,613 | 2.8 km | 39.1 | 16% | 43% |
| Raphoe | 1,161 | 5.6 km | 40.1 | 20% | 41% |
| Convoy | 1,702 | 8.8 km | 37.5 | 17% | 47% |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 5,406 | 16.7 km | 39.3 | 17% | 44% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 17.1 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Letterkenny | 22,549 | 18.3 km | 35.7 | 12% | 43% |
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 Ballindrait’s residents
What is the population of Ballindrait?
Ballindrait had 100 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 1% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballindrait?
The median age is 41.9. 24% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballindrait?
23% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (18 people), and 1.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballindrait?
95% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 3.4% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballindrait?
88% are Catholic, 6.1% have no religion and 6.1% another religion; 18% didn’t say.
Is Ballindrait good for families?
42% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballindrait are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballindrait?
Median gross household income in Ballindrait was €32,490 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).