Photo: Rossographer · CC BY-SA 2.0More holiday homes than 96% of Irish towns: 6.5%
Shared households of unrelated adults: 0.9%, below 99% of Irish towns. Carndonagh had 2,768 residents in 1,066 households at the 2022 Census. Locally, just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White Irish. One-person households are more common here than in 83% of Irish towns.
Slower growth than 55% of Irish towns: Carndonagh changed by +7% since 2016
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.
Across Ireland’s towns the median change is +8%; across Co. Donegal’s towns, +6%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 69% of Irish towns: 16%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 0–4 than any other five-year age: 7.4% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Across the comparison, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. For Carndonagh, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 12%. Half of the town’s residents are under 37.4, younger than in 54% of Irish towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Carndonagh, 37.4. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Only 5.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Carndonagh
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
Just over a fifth of workers are in skilled trades, against a typical 11%. To put it in context, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns. Students among residents 15 and over: 10% of the total.
Smaller households than 67% of Irish towns: 2.6 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.
With households of parents with children at 45%, Carndonagh is ahead of 61% of Irish towns on that count.
Fewer flats than 81% of Irish towns: 6.7% of households
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
Internet at home: broadband for 84%, nothing for 13% (typical: 7.6%). To put it in context, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 18% of households have no car or van.
The middle household earns €34,830 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €34,830 a year before tax, the median household income is 42% under that of Ireland (€60,120). In Co. Donegal overall, the median comes to €42,500.
In Carndonagh, 7.1% of residents are citizens of another country, fewer than in 94% of Irish towns
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.
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the UK (15%) and outside the EU and UK (3.5%). Just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns, against 21% in Carndonagh.
Irish speakers make up 31% of Carndonagh
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
Nothing unusual on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.9%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. Some 803 people here, 31% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. The highest share in Co. Donegal belongs to Letterkenny (2.6%).
Carndonagh sits below 95% of Irish towns for residents with no religion (9.4%)
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 Carndonagh · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who said they are Catholic tops 97% of Irish towns: 84%. Residents with no religion make up 17% across Ireland’s towns. After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (5.3%), Asian or Asian Irish (2%) and Other, including mixed (1.8%).
33% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 62% 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.
The census found that 5.2% of residents give unpaid care in Carndonagh. 58% of the town’s residents 15 and over are single and 33% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
Below 76% of Irish towns: 25% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, 7.2% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 19% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (2,510 to 3,211 people), the 14th youngest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Kilbarry (30.4) and the oldest Ballybrack (45.5). Nearest to Carndonagh in age: Blackpool (36.1), Grange Upper (37.2), Callan (37.6) and Ballinrobe (37.6).
Every neighbour of Carndonagh has an older population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carndonagh | 2,768 | — | 37.4 | 16% | 45% |
| Moville | 1,390 | 16.0 km | 44.8 | 24% | 37% |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 16.6 km | 39.8 | 16% | 47% |
| Greencastle | 1,268 | 18.0 km | 41.5 | 16% | 45% |
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 Carndonagh’s residents
What is the population of Carndonagh?
Carndonagh had 2,768 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Carndonagh?
The median age is 37.4, younger than 54% of Irish towns. 27% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Carndonagh?
31% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (803 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Carndonagh?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 21% were born abroad and 7.1% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Carndonagh?
84% are Catholic, 9.4% have no religion and 7% another religion; 2.9% didn’t say.
Is Carndonagh good for families?
45% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 27% of residents are under 18. Schools near Carndonagh are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Carndonagh?
Median gross household income in Carndonagh was €34,830 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).