Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of Irish towns: half of Ballyliffin is over 48.2
The figure for residents with no religion is 8.1% in Ballyliffin and 17% across Ireland’s towns. Households of parents with children are rarer here than in 79% of Irish towns. 479 residents in 191 households: that is Ballyliffin at the 2022 Census. Census figures put holiday homes at 38% locally.
Ballyliffin changed by +7% from 2016 to 2022, behind 54% 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.
Ballyliffin ranks above 99% of Irish towns on residents aged 65 and over: 26%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 60–64: nearly one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 14% of residents are 65 or over. Residents aged 15 to 24: 12% of the total.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 97% of Irish towns, at 3.3%
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
Work here tilts toward skilled trades, at 22% against a typical 11%. The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 7.5% across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 8.9% of residents 15 and over are students.
In Ballyliffin, 34% of households are one person living alone, more than in 94% 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.
Households average 2.3 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 24% of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns.
A smaller share of households in flats than 94% of Irish towns: 3.7%
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, 81% have broadband, while 13% have no internet access (typical: 7.6%). Just over one in ten households have no car or van, fewer than in 70% of Irish towns.
The middle household earns €37,940 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Gross household income has a median of €37,940 a year here, 37% below Ireland (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Donegal has a median of €42,500.
A smaller share of residents with another country’s citizenship than 98% of Irish towns: 4.6%
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.
The most common home language after English is French (1.3%); in all 3.7% speak another language, and 0.2% speak English not well or not at all. Set beside that, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Where 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns, Ballyliffin has 23%.
In Ballyliffin, 0.2% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 99% of Irish towns
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
Within Co. Donegal, Letterkenny has the largest share, 2.6%. Set beside that, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Ballyliffin ranks above 99% of Irish towns on residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 95%
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 Ballyliffin · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents who said they are Catholic (88%), Ballyliffin is above 99% of Irish towns. The wider picture: 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
8.6% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 99% 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 34% across Ireland’s towns, 47% of residents 15 and over are married here. By way of comparison, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Ballyliffin ranks below 70% of Irish towns on adults with a degree or higher: 28%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Ballyliffin’s adults, 8% went on to postgraduate study and 19% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Across Ireland’s towns, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher.
Every nearby town is younger than Ballyliffin
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballyliffin | 479 | — | 48.2 | 26% | 35% |
| Carndonagh | 2,768 | 8.7 km | 37.4 | 16% | 45% |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 16.3 km | 39.8 | 16% | 47% |
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 Ballyliffin’s residents
What is the population of Ballyliffin?
Ballyliffin had 479 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballyliffin?
The median age is 48.2. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballyliffin?
27% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (123 people), and 0.2% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballyliffin?
95% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 23% were born abroad and 4.6% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballyliffin?
88% are Catholic, 8.1% have no religion and 3.6% another religion; 1.5% didn’t say.
Is Ballyliffin good for families?
35% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 17% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballyliffin are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballyliffin?
Median gross household income in Ballyliffin was €37,940 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).