Photo: Brian Herrity · CC BY-SA 3.08.3% of homes are holiday homes, more than in 98% of Irish towns
85% of residents said they are Catholic; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 71%. At the 2022 Census, 652 people lived in Mountcharles, in 248 households. In Mountcharles, 1.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. The median age in the town is 40.9, higher than in 84% of Irish towns.
From 2016 to 2022, 56% of Irish towns grew faster than Mountcharles: +7%
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%.
Mountcharles ranks above 62% of Irish towns on residents aged 65 and over: 15%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
45–49 is the most common age band: 8.6% of residents. At 12%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is lower than in 59% of Irish towns. On average, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. In Donegal, the oldest of Co. Donegal’s towns by this measure, it is 21%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Donegal 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 5.8%, a lower share than 75% 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
Work here tilts toward skilled trades, at 20% against a typical 11%. Across the comparison, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns. Students among residents 15 and over: 9.8% of the total.
A larger share of households of parents with children than 70% of Irish towns: 47%
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.
In Mountcharles, 28% of households are one person living alone, beside 24% across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns. Households here average 2.7 people each.
Few flats: only 2.4% of households in Mountcharles live in one
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
Households without a car or van: 13% here and 17% across Ireland’s towns. The benchmark for households in flats across Ireland’s towns: 12%.
Median gross household income: €48,250 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Mountcharles’s households have a gross income below €48,250 a year, 20% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Donegal, the middle household has €42,500.
A lower share of residents with another country’s citizenship than 96% of Irish towns, at 6.5%
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 (9%) and in Poland (3.4%). At 16%, the share of residents born outside Ireland is lower than in 79% of Irish towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 15% of residents are citizens of another country.
Of Mountcharles’s residents, 35% can speak Irish
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
Letterkenny leads Co. Donegal with 2.6%. 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, more than in 52% of Irish towns.
A lower share of residents with no religion than 99% of Irish towns, at 8.2%
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: 90% of Mountcharles · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish tops 97% of Irish towns: 90%. Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (6.7%), Irish Traveller (0.9%) and Other, including mixed (0.9%). As a reference point, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of unpaid carers than 99% of Irish towns: 8.4%
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents 15 and over are married; in Mountcharles, 39%. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 5.4% across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of adults with a degree or higher than 74% of Irish towns, at 27%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Primary level or earlier: 13%, against 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. Postgraduate: 11% of adults.
Every neighbour of Mountcharles 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountcharles | 652 | — | 40.9 | 15% | 47% |
| Donegal | 2,749 | 6.8 km | 41.2 | 21% | 37% |
| Killybegs | 1,258 | 15.0 km | 46.2 | 26% | 39% |
| Ballyshannon | 2,246 | 16.1 km | 45 | 25% | 35% |
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 Mountcharles’s residents
What is the population of Mountcharles?
Mountcharles had 652 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Mountcharles?
The median age is 40.9. 26% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Mountcharles?
35% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (215 people), and 1.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Mountcharles?
90% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 16% were born abroad and 6.5% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Mountcharles?
85% are Catholic, 8.2% have no religion and 6.5% another religion; 1.4% didn’t say.
Is Mountcharles good for families?
47% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Mountcharles are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Mountcharles?
Median gross household income in Mountcharles was €48,250 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).