Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Holiday homes: 13%, a higher share than 99% of Irish towns
Against a figure of 78% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish in Carrowkeel comes in at 93%. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 389, in 152 households. For Carrowkeel, the census puts one-person households at 33%. With a median age of 41.2, Carrowkeel is older than 86% of Irish towns.
+6% since 2016, a pace below 59% 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.
Across Ireland’s towns, the typical town changed +8%; across Co. Donegal’s towns, +6%.
21% of residents are 65 or over, a share 92% of Irish towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails 73% of Irish towns: 11%. Elsewhere, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
Only 3.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Carrowkeel
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
30% of Carrowkeel’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 17% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Smaller households than 74% of Irish towns: 2.5 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.
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of households of parents with children is 43%; Carrowkeel has 40%. For Carrowkeel, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 3.9%.
0.7% of households live in a flat or apartment, below 99% 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
No internet at all: 11% (typical: 7.6%). Across Ireland’s towns, households in flats come to 12%. One household in every 8 has no car or van.
The median household brings in €41,610 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€41,610 a year before tax puts the median household 31% below Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Donegal as a whole, the figure is €42,500.
In Carrowkeel, 5.7% of residents are citizens of another country, fewer than in 98% 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.
4.5% speak a language other than English at home, French most of all (0.8%); 0.6% speak English not well or not at all. Lower than in 80% of Irish towns: 16% of residents were born outside Ireland. Against that, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
Daily speakers of Irish outside education make up 2% in Carrowkeel, more than in 91% 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
Some 137 people here, 38% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Elsewhere, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns. The highest share in Co. Donegal belongs to Letterkenny (2.6%).
Residents with no religion: 8.7%, a lower share than 96% 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: 93% of Carrowkeel · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who said they are Catholic is 81% in Carrowkeel and 71% across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
A higher share of unpaid carers than 99% of Irish towns, at 10%
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.
Where 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns, Carrowkeel has 38%. The wider picture: 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
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 9.3% of adults here, while 18% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Set beside that, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
1 in 4 nearby towns have a higher median age than Carrowkeel
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrowkeel | 389 | — | 41.2 | 21% | 40% |
| Milford | 1,076 | 5.3 km | 39 | 17% | 48% |
| Ramelton | 1,288 | 11.0 km | 41.5 | 18% | 41% |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 13.7 km | 39.8 | 16% | 47% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 18.6 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
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 Carrowkeel’s residents
What is the population of Carrowkeel?
Carrowkeel had 389 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Carrowkeel?
The median age is 41.2. 23% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Carrowkeel?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (137 people), and 2% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Carrowkeel?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 16% were born abroad and 5.7% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Carrowkeel?
81% are Catholic, 8.7% have no religion and 10% another religion; 5.1% didn’t say.
Is Carrowkeel good for families?
40% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Carrowkeel are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Carrowkeel?
Median gross household income in Carrowkeel was €41,610 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).