Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0A median age of 44.8: Moville is older than 98% of Irish towns
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of one-person households is 24%; Moville has 37%. 1,390 residents in 603 households: that is Moville at the 2022 Census. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish account for 93%. Households of parents with children are rarer here than in just over three quarters of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Moville
One home in 6 is a holiday home
About 150 of 890 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (17%), more than in 99% of Irish towns; 13% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Moville’s residents are under 44.8 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 24% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than before
Moville went from about 1,430 people in 2016 to 1,390 in 2022, −3%: slower growth than in 98% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
From 2016 to 2022, 98% of Irish towns grew faster than Moville: −3%
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%.
24% of residents are 65 or over, a share 98% of Irish towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 8.1% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns. 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 89% of Irish towns. For comparison, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
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%.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 94% of Irish towns: 4.1%
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
Students among residents 15 and over are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 9.5%. Across Ireland’s towns, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Smaller households than 90% of Irish towns: 2.3 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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults trails 88% of Irish towns: 2.5%.
A higher share of holiday homes than 99% of Irish towns, at 17%
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
The share of households with broadband is 87%; 12% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Holiday homes make up 0.2% across Ireland’s towns. 24% of households have no car or van. Few places have so few households in flats: 11% here, fewer than in 60% of Irish towns.
The middle household earns €31,880 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 €31,880 sits 47% below Ireland (€60,120). County median: €42,500 (Co. Donegal).
Fewer residents with another country’s citizenship than 97% of Irish towns: 6.1%
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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents born outside Ireland is 22%; Moville has 28%. 5% speak a language other than English at home, Spanish most of all (0.6%); 0.5% speak English not well or not at all. Set beside that, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
Can speak Irish: 31% of Moville’s 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
On daily speakers of Irish outside education, 1.3% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns. Some 388 people here, 31% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish.
Residents who said they are Catholic: 81%, a higher share than 93% 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 Moville · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents with no religion is 12%, against 17% across Ireland’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (5.7%), Asian or Asian Irish (0.9%) and Other, including mixed (0.7%). Residents who said they are Catholic make up 71% across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 82% of Irish towns: 38%
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.
Unpaid carers: 5.9%, near enough the figure across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Only 27% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Moville
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: 18%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Postgraduate: 8% of adults. To put it in context, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The towns around Moville are all younger
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moville | 1,390 | — | 44.8 | 24% | 37% |
| Greencastle | 1,268 | 3.1 km | 41.5 | 16% | 45% |
| Carndonagh | 2,768 | 16.0 km | 37.4 | 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 Moville’s residents
What is the population of Moville?
Moville had 1,390 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 3% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Moville?
The median age is 44.8. 22% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Moville?
31% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (388 people), and 1.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Moville?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 28% were born abroad and 6.1% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Moville?
81% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 7% another religion; 5.3% didn’t say.
Is Moville good for families?
37% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Moville are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Moville?
Median gross household income in Moville was €31,880 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).