Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0More holiday homes than 99% of Irish towns: 20% of homes
84% of residents said they are Catholic; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 71%. The share of households of parents with children stands at 52%. The median age in Gleneely is 34.9, lower than in just over four fifths of Irish towns. In 2022, the Census found 243 residents locally, living in 86 households.
A +4% change since 2016: slower than 75% 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.
The median across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Donegal’s towns +6%.
Gleneely ranks below 63% of Irish towns on residents aged 65 and over: 12%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 12%. The wider picture: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 98% of Irish towns, at 2.9%
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
Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Gleneely, 25% and 31%. Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.5% across Ireland’s towns.
Below 99% of Irish towns: 1.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
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.
The average household has 2.8 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Elsewhere, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns. Across Gleneely, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone.
8.5% of households have no car or van, below 82% 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
Connected households: 77% on broadband; 18% offline (typical: 7.6%). In one household in 12 there is no car or van. Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns.
The middle household earns €36,120 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 €36,120 a year here, 40% below Ireland (€60,120). Co. Donegal comes in at €42,500 at the median.
Below 94% of Irish towns: 7.1% of residents are citizens of another country
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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the UK (20%) and in Poland (1.7%). Nearly a quarter of residents were born outside Ireland, a higher share than in 59% of Irish towns. Set beside that, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
Gleneely ranks below 99% of Irish towns on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 0.4%
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
The highest share in Co. Donegal belongs to Letterkenny (2.6%). Elsewhere, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns. 52 residents, 23% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish.
More residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 98% of Irish towns: 93%
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 Gleneely · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 17% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Gleneely comes in at 11%. The usual figure: 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
Unpaid carers: 7%, a higher share than 96% 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.
Just over a third of residents 15 and over are married, against 34% across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Only 19% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Gleneely
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 2.1% of adults; primary level or less for 20% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). As a yardstick, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
No nearby town is as young as Gleneely
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gleneely | 243 | — | 34.9 | 12% | 52% |
| Carndonagh | 2,768 | 7.8 km | 37.4 | 16% | 45% |
| Moville | 1,390 | 9.0 km | 44.8 | 24% | 37% |
| Greencastle | 1,268 | 10.5 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 Gleneely’s residents
What is the population of Gleneely?
Gleneely had 243 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Gleneely?
The median age is 34.9. 30% are under 18 and 12% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Gleneely?
23% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (52 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Gleneely?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 24% were born abroad and 7.1% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Gleneely?
84% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 4.7% another religion; 3.7% didn’t say.
Is Gleneely good for families?
52% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 30% of residents are under 18. Schools near Gleneely are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Gleneely?
Median gross household income in Gleneely was €36,120 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).