Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of Irish towns: half of Glenties is over 46.8
4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns, against 1% in Glenties. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 927, in 393 households. For Glenties, the census puts holiday homes at 9.8%. This Co. Donegal town has more one-person households than 94% of Irish towns, at 34%.
A change of +2% since 2016 leaves Glenties behind 82% 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.
Set beside +8% across Ireland’s towns and +6% across Co. Donegal’s towns.
Above 99% of Irish towns: 26% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 12%. By way of comparison, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 5% in Glenties, less than in 85% of Irish towns
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
Among the working population, process, plant and machine operatives make up 13%, against a typical 7.8%. Against that, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns. For Glenties, the census puts students among residents 15 and over at 10%.
Smaller households than 87% of Irish towns: 2.4 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.
Households of parents with children: 40%, below 64% of Irish towns.
Households in flats: 4.3%, a lower share than 90% 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: 15% (typical: 7.6%). The share of households in flats across Ireland’s towns is 12%. Broadband: 82% of households.
Household income, middle of the range: €40,880 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €40,880 a year before tax, the median household income is 32% under that of Ireland (€60,120). Countywide in Co. Donegal, the median is €42,500.
Below 97% of Irish towns: 6.1% 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.
Most residents from abroad were born in the UK (10%) or outside the EU and UK (2.6%). As a yardstick, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Residents born outside Ireland are rarer here than in 85% of Irish towns.
1.9% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, more than in 90% 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
Top of Co. Donegal: Letterkenny, at 2.6%. Measured more widely, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Only 6.7% of residents said they have no religion in Glenties
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 Glenties · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as White Irish is 93% in Glenties and 78% across Ireland’s towns. 90% of residents said they are Catholic. The benchmark for residents with no religion across Ireland’s towns: 17%.
Glenties ranks above 90% of Irish towns on married residents 15 and over: 40%
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.
Glenties sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 5.7%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. For comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Below 84% of Irish towns: 22% 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
Of Glenties’s adults, 6.3% went on to postgraduate study and 21% left 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%.
A younger town than 1 of the 2 around it: Glenties
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenties | 927 | — | 46.8 | 26% | 40% |
| An Clochán Liath | 1,247 | 18.0 km | 48.4 | 24% | 36% |
| Donegal | 2,749 | 19.3 km | 41.2 | 21% | 37% |
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 Glenties’s residents
What is the population of Glenties?
Glenties had 927 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 2% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Glenties?
The median age is 46.8. 21% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Glenties?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (337 people), and 1.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Glenties?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 6.1% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Glenties?
90% are Catholic, 6.7% have no religion and 3.8% another religion; 1.6% didn’t say.
Is Glenties good for families?
40% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Glenties are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Glenties?
Median gross household income in Glenties was €40,880 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).