Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 99% of Irish towns: 6.4% of residents said they have no religion
Half of Raphoe’s residents are over 40.1, older than in nearly four fifths of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census, 1,161 people lived here, in 474 households. Census figures put households in flats at 4.2% locally. Households in Raphoe hold 2.4 people on average (Ireland’s towns: 2.7).
What stands out about the people of Raphoe
Many older residents
20% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 87% of Irish towns; 5.2% are 80 or over, and 35% of households are one person living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A change of +4% since 2016 leaves Raphoe behind 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.
Set beside +8% across Ireland’s towns and +6% across Co. Donegal’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 20% in Raphoe, more than in 87% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 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 lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 99% of Irish towns, at 1.5%
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
The biggest occupational gap is in sales and customer service: 15%, against a typical 7.8%. Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.5% across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of one-person households than 95% of Irish towns: 35%
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.
Against a figure of 43% across Ireland’s towns, the share of households of parents with children in Raphoe comes in at 41%. On shared households of unrelated adults, Raphoe sits lower than 58% of Irish towns: 4.2%. The comparison figure for one-person households is 24% across Ireland’s towns.
26% of households have no car or van, a share 78% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
Internet at home: broadband for 74%, nothing for 24% (typical: 7.6%). By way of comparison, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 1.8% of homes are holiday homes in Raphoe.
The median household brings in €34,990 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 €34,990 sits 42% below Ireland (€60,120). Co. Donegal’s median household income is €42,500.
4.1% of residents are citizens of another country, below 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.
The figure for residents born outside Ireland is 13% in Raphoe and 22% across Ireland’s towns. Spanish leads the languages spoken at home (1.2%), among the 5.5% who speak another language there; 0.3% speak English not well or not at all. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is 15%.
Fewer daily speakers of Irish outside education than 99% of Irish towns: 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
Some 202 people here, 20% of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. The benchmark for daily speakers of Irish outside education across Ireland’s towns: 1.1%. The highest share in Co. Donegal belongs to Letterkenny (2.6%).
Raphoe: 93% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, above 99% 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 Raphoe · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 71% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic in Raphoe comes in at 68%. Measured more widely, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (2.8%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.7%) and Other, including mixed (1.7%).
Raphoe sits below 72% of Irish towns for married residents 15 and over (32%)
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.
At 5.9%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across Ireland’s towns. Elsewhere, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of adults with a degree or higher than 96% of Irish towns, at 15%
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 3.8% of adults; primary level or less for 27% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Measured more widely, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Around Raphoe, 1 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raphoe | 1,161 | — | 40.1 | 20% | 41% |
| Convoy | 1,702 | 4.0 km | 37.5 | 17% | 47% |
| Lifford | 1,613 | 8.3 km | 39.1 | 16% | 43% |
| Letterkenny | 22,549 | 12.8 km | 35.7 | 12% | 43% |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 5,406 | 13.9 km | 39.3 | 17% | 44% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 15.1 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Ramelton | 1,288 | 18.8 km | 41.5 | 18% | 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 Raphoe’s residents
What is the population of Raphoe?
Raphoe had 1,161 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Raphoe?
The median age is 40.1. 25% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Raphoe?
20% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (202 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Raphoe?
93% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 13% were born abroad and 4.1% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Raphoe?
68% are Catholic, 6.4% have no religion and 26% another religion; 9% didn’t say.
Is Raphoe good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Raphoe are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Raphoe?
Median gross household income in Raphoe was €34,990 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).