Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.05.5% of homes are holiday homes, more than in 96% of Irish towns
By its share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish (91%), Ramelton is above 98% of Irish towns. This Co. Donegal town had 1,288 residents in 527 households at the 2022 Census. On the census count, nearly a third of households are one person living alone. Lower than in 86% of Irish towns: 2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
What stands out about the people of Ramelton
Older than most towns
Half of Ramelton’s residents are under 41.5 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 18% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
+4% since 2016, a pace below 77% 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.
Older than 87% of Irish towns: half of Ramelton is over 41.5
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 40–44: 7.6% of residents. Ramelton has more residents aged 65 and over than 83% of Irish towns, at 18%. 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
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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 81% of Irish towns, at 5.4%
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, just over a third of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Ramelton, 34% and 19%. For comparison, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
2.4 people per household, fewer than in 85% 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.
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns: 43%).
Below 85% of Irish towns: 5.5% of households live in a flat or apartment
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: 84% on broadband; 12% offline (typical: 7.6%). Every 6th household or so has no car or van.
The median household brings in €46,080 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Households here have a median gross income of €46,080, 23% lower than across Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €42,500 across Co. Donegal.
In Ramelton, 5.7% of residents are citizens of another country, fewer than in 98% of Irish towns
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.
19% of residents were born outside Ireland, against 22% across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born in the UK (13%) and outside the EU and UK (2.6%).
Irish speakers make up 26% of Ramelton
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
Daily speakers of Irish outside education make up 0.8%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. 306 residents, 26% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish.
11% of residents said they have no religion, below 88% 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: 91% of Ramelton · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the most common groups are Other White (4.9%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.4%) and Other, including mixed (1.2%). More residents who said they are Catholic than in 76% of Irish towns: 76%. Residents with no religion: 17% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Only 4.2% of residents give unpaid care in Ramelton
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.
For Ramelton, the census puts married residents 15 and over at 34%. About 50 residents (4.2%) give regular unpaid care (Ireland’s towns 5.4%).
A smaller share of adults with a degree or higher than 67% of Irish towns: 29%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Just over a tenth of Ramelton’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 18% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Across Ireland’s towns, adults with a degree or higher come to 36%.
The towns around Ramelton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramelton | 1,288 | — | 41.5 | 18% | 41% |
| Milford | 1,076 | 6.6 km | 39 | 17% | 48% |
| Letterkenny | 22,549 | 10.2 km | 35.7 | 12% | 43% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 10.5 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 17.1 km | 39.8 | 16% | 47% |
| Raphoe | 1,161 | 18.8 km | 40.1 | 20% | 41% |
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 Ramelton’s residents
What is the population of Ramelton?
Ramelton had 1,288 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ramelton?
The median age is 41.5. 21% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ramelton?
26% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (306 people), and 0.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ramelton?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 5.7% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ramelton?
76% are Catholic, 11% have no religion and 13% another religion; 4.8% didn’t say.
Is Ramelton good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ramelton are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ramelton?
Median gross household income in Ramelton was €46,080 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).