Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0

45Median age

Who lives here · CSO Census 2022

Ballyshannon is older than 98% of Irish towns: a median age of 45

1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ballyshannon, 4.4% of homes are holiday homes. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish are more common here than in 96% of Irish towns. In 2022, the Census found 2,246 residents here, living in 981 households.

−1%since 2016 25%aged 65 or over 19%born abroad 981households

What stands out · In brief

What stands out about the people of Ballyshannon

45median age, older than 98% of Irish towns −1%people, 2016 to 2022; Ireland’s towns +8%6.8%of residents give unpaid care; Ireland’s towns 5.4%

Older than most towns

Half of Ballyshannon’s residents are under 45 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 25% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓

Fewer people than before

Ballyshannon went from about 2,270 people in 2016 to 2,246 in 2022, −1%: slower growth than in 96% of Irish towns. Population change ↓

Many carers

About 150 residents (6.8%) give regular unpaid care, more than in 95% of Irish towns. Relationships & caring ↓

Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.

Population change

−1% since 2016, a pace below 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.

Residents, 2016

2,270

residents

estimate: CSO electoral divisions shared out

Residents, 2022

2,246

residents

CSO Census 2022

Change, 2016 to 2022

Ballyshannon−1%

Co. Donegal’s towns+6%

Ireland’s towns+8%

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 across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Donegal’s towns +6%.

Ages

25% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% of Irish towns

Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.

BallyshannonIreland’s towns

0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

With residents aged 15 to 24 at 11%, Ballyshannon is behind 71% of Irish towns on that count. By way of comparison, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1516%

15 to 2411%

25 to 4423%

45 to 6425%

65 and over25%

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

53% women, 47% men

Ballyshannon

Co. Donegal’s towns

Ireland’s towns

WomenMen

About 90 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.

Social class & newcomers

Only 8.3% of residents 15 and over are students in Ballyshannon

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

Professional workers5.1%

Managerial and technical24%

Non-manual17%

Skilled manual14%

Semi-skilled15%

Unskilled5.2%

All others gainfully occupied, and unknown20%

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

Where residents lived a year earlier

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Ballyshannon

6.4%

Ireland’s towns

7.5%

Elsewhere in the countyElsewhere in IrelandMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

142

residents, 6.4%; Ireland’s towns 7.5%

Of them from abroad

1.1× Ireland’s share

Workers by occupation · residents at work

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

Managers, directors and senior officials5.5%

Professional occupations15%

Associate professional and technical12%

Administrative and secretarial9.5%

Skilled trades15%

Caring, leisure and other services14%

Sales and customer service9.2%

Process, plant and machine operatives5.7%

Elementary occupations13%

0%12.5%25%

By its share of residents who moved in within the year (6.4%), Ballyshannon is below two thirds of Irish towns. As a reference point, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.

Households

One-person households: 34%, a higher share than 94% of Irish towns

Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.

One person 34%Couple, no children 23%Couple with children 23%Single parent 13%Other and multi-family 6.4%Unrelated adults sharing 1.7%

Against Co. Donegal’s towns and Ireland’s towns

Ballyshannon

Co. Donegal’s towns

Ireland’s towns

People per household

1 person34%

2 people34%

3 people14%

4 people10%

5 or more7.3%

Ireland’s towns.

Just over a third of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns: 43%). Each household has 2.3 people on average. The usual figure: 24% of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns.

Homes & cars

A higher share of households without a car or van than 75% of Irish towns, at 25%

Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Ballyshannon

Co. Donegal’s towns

Ireland’s towns

House or bungalowFlat or apartmentBedsitCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van25%

One48%

Two23%

Three or more5.2%

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

Internet at home · share of households

Broadband81%

Other connection3.3%

No internet15%

The share of households with broadband is 81%; 15% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Set beside that, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns. Here, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment.

Income

Median gross household income: €37,260 a year

Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.

Median household income

€37,260

CSO’s own figure for the town

After tax

€35,540

median net household income

Co. Donegal

€42,500

median gross household income

Ireland

€60,120

median gross household income

At €37,260 a year before tax, the median household income is 38% under that of Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Donegal, the figure is €42,500.

Where people were born

Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 95% of Irish towns: 6.9%

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%

Ballyshannon

19%

Co. Donegal’s towns

26%

Ireland’s towns

22%

UKPolandIndiaRest of the EURest of the world

Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%

Ballyshannon

6.9%

Ireland’s towns

15%

UKPolishIndianOther EURest of the world

Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.

Other languages · share of all residents

Speak another language at home7.9%

…and English very well3.7%

…and English well2%

…and English not well or not at all1.4%

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.

In Ballyshannon, 19% of residents were born outside Ireland, beside 22% across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Another language is spoken at home by 7.9%, most often Polish (1.6%); 1.4% speak English not well or not at all.

Irish speakers

Only 0.9% of residents speak Irish daily outside education in Ballyshannon

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

Can speak Irish35%

Speak it daily outside education0.9%

Speak it weekly outside education2.5%

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

Within Co. Donegal, Letterkenny has the largest share, 2.6%. Typically, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.

Ethnicity & religion

Residents who said they are Catholic: 83%, a higher share than 95% 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

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

Irish Traveller1.3%

Other White6.3%

Black or Black Irish0.5%

Asian or Asian Irish1.4%

Other, including mixed0.9%

0%8%16%

White Irish, not charted: 90% of Ballyshannon · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.

Religion · all residents

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

No religion11%

Catholic83%

Other religion5.7%

Didn’t answer4.1%

0%50%100%

11% of residents said they have no religion, against 17% across Ireland’s towns. Next after White Irish come Other White (6.3%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.4%) and Irish Traveller (1.3%). The usual figure: 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.

Relationships & caring

A larger share of unpaid carers than 95% of Irish towns: 6.8%

Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.

Partnership status · residents 15 and over

Single50%

Married or civil partnership35%

Separated or divorced7.7%

Widowed6.8%

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

150residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 6.8%, against 5.4% in Ireland’s towns

The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.

Married residents 15 and over account for 35%. About 150 residents (6.8%) give regular unpaid care (Ireland’s towns 5.4%).

Qualifications

A smaller share of adults with a degree or higher than 81% of Irish towns: 24%

Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.

Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended

Primary or none15%

Lower secondary18%

Upper secondary or technical39%

Higher certificate4.9%

Degree16%

Postgraduate7.9%

BallyshannonCo. Donegal’s townsIreland’s towns

Postgraduate qualifications are held by 7.9% of adults here, while 15% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). For adults with a degree or higher, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 36%.

Neighbours

Every nearby town is younger than Ballyshannon

The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.

BundoranKinloughDonegalBallyshannon

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Parents with children
Ballyshannon	2,246	—	45	25%	35%
Bundoran	2,599	6.5 km	38.4	16%	36%
Kinlough	1,196	8.9 km	35.2	13%	49%
Donegal	2,749	17.4 km	41.2	21%	37%

More about Ballyshannon’s residents

Health, work, housing and schools

Health C⁻Health in the Census, and the grade Work & commute C⁻Jobs, unemployment and how people get to work Cost of living A⁻Home prices, rents, owning and renting SchoolsPrimary and post-primary schools nearby

How to read these numbers

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 Ballyshannon’s residents

What is the population of Ballyshannon?

Ballyshannon had 2,246 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 1% fewer than 2016.

What is the average age in Ballyshannon?

The median age is 45. 19% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.

How many people speak Irish in Ballyshannon?

35% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (734 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.

How diverse is Ballyshannon?

90% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 6.9% are citizens of another country.

What religion are people in Ballyshannon?

83% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 5.7% another religion; 4.1% didn’t say.

Is Ballyshannon good for families?

35% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 19% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballyshannon are on its Schools page.

What is the median income in Ballyshannon?

Median gross household income in Ballyshannon was €37,260 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).