Photo: Alistair Cunningham · CC BY 3.0Older than 99% of Irish towns: half of Fahan is over 47
The figure for holiday homes is 25% in Fahan and 0.2% across Ireland’s towns. 83% of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 95% of Irish towns. In 2022, the Census found 589 residents locally, living in 212 households. For Fahan, the census puts households of parents with children at 37%.
Since 2016, Fahan has changed by −4%, slower than 99% 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.
Medians for comparison: +8% across Ireland’s towns; +6% across Co. Donegal’s towns.
Fahan ranks above 99% of Irish towns on residents aged 65 and over: 27%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 45–49: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. For Fahan, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 11%.
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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 88% of Irish towns, at 4.7%
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 Fahan, the professional, managerial and technical classes take in 48% of residents and the semi-skilled and unskilled classes 11%, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 7.5%.
One-person households: 28%, a higher share than 69% 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 in Fahan hold 2.6 people on average (Ireland’s towns: 2.7). On average, 24% of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 5.2% of the total.
Households without a car or van: 9.5%, a lower share than 77% 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
At home, 88% have broadband, while 4.8% have no internet access (typical: 7.6%). 17% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 69% of Irish towns, against a typical 12% across Ireland’s towns. In one household in 11 there is no car or van.
A median household income of €39,270 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €39,270 sits 35% below Ireland (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Donegal has a median of €42,500.
A lower share of residents with another country’s citizenship than 97% of Irish towns, at 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 45%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 45%
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.
With residents born outside Ireland at 38%, Fahan is ahead of 91% of Irish towns on that count. As a reference point, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. The most common home language after English is French (0.5%); in all 4.7% speak another language, and 0.2% speak English not well or not at all.
In Fahan, Irish is spoken by 29% of residents
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
Little separates the share of daily speakers of Irish outside education here, 1.2%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. In all, 150 residents aged 3 and over (29%) can speak Irish.
In Fahan, 93% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, more than in 98% 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 Fahan · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
One in ten residents said they have no religion; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 17%. For residents who describe themselves as White Irish, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 78%. After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (4.3%), Asian or Asian Irish (2%) and Black or Black Irish (0.9%).
Fahan sits above 95% of Irish towns for married residents 15 and over (42%)
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.
7.5% of residents give unpaid care, against 5.4% across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 44% in Fahan, more than in 68% 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 18% of adults; primary level or less for 11% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). The share of adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns is 36%.
Every neighbour of Fahan has a younger population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fahan | 589 | — | 47 | 27% | 37% |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 5.8 km | 39.8 | 16% | 47% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 10.5 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Muff | 1,418 | 12.6 km | 40.4 | 11% | 44% |
| Ramelton | 1,288 | 12.9 km | 41.5 | 18% | 41% |
| Milford | 1,076 | 14.4 km | 39 | 17% | 48% |
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 Fahan’s residents
What is the population of Fahan?
Fahan had 589 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 4% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Fahan?
The median age is 47. 22% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Fahan?
29% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (150 people), and 1.2% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Fahan?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 38% were born abroad and 6% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Fahan?
83% are Catholic, 9.7% have no religion and 7.5% another religion; 6.8% didn’t say.
Is Fahan good for families?
37% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Fahan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Fahan?
Median gross household income in Fahan was €39,270 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).