Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 99% of Irish towns: half of Rathmullan is over 50.6
1.9% of households live in a flat or apartment; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 12%. The 2022 Census counted 528 residents in 210 households. In Rathmullan, 1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 34%, more than in 94% of Irish towns.
Since 2016, Rathmullan has grown +13%, faster than 79% 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.
Across Co. Donegal’s towns the median is +6%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
Above 98% of Irish towns: 25% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 8.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Rathmullan.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 81 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.
Students among residents 15 and over make up 4.9% in Rathmullan, less than in 99% 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 managers, directors and senior officials, at 11% against a typical 7.8%. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are scarce here: 6.1%, fewer than in 72% of Irish towns. Set beside that, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
2.3 people per household, fewer than in 91% 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.
Here 35% of households are parents with children, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 43%.
Rathmullan: 52% of homes are holiday homes, above 99% 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
87% of households are on broadband; 10% have no internet connection (typical: 7.6%). On the census count, 14% of households have no car or van. Set beside that, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns.
The median household brings in €46,980 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €46,980 a year, 22% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Across Co. Donegal the median is €42,500.
Rathmullan ranks below 95% of Irish towns on residents with another country’s citizenship: 7%
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 largest groups were born in the UK (19%) and outside the EU and UK (2.4%). The comparison figure for residents with another country’s citizenship is 15% across Ireland’s towns. Compared with other places, residents born outside Ireland are common here: 23%, more than in 52% of Irish towns.
28% of Rathmullan 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
In all, 139 residents aged 3 and over (28%) can speak Irish. Daily speakers of Irish outside education are rarer here than in nearly three quarters of Irish towns.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 97% of Irish towns, at 91%
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 Rathmullan · Co. Donegal’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (8.1%), Asian or Asian Irish (1%) and Other, including mixed (0.4%). Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 78% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. Nearly three quarters of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 66% of Irish towns. There is little gap on residents with no religion: 17%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
Rathmullan: 44% of residents 15 and over are married, above 97% of Irish towns
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.
Against a figure of 5.4% across Ireland’s towns, the share of unpaid carers in Rathmullan comes in at 6.8%. Across the comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 37% in Rathmullan, more than in 54% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
12% of Rathmullan’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 12% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). For adults with a degree or higher, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 36%.
Every nearby town is younger than Rathmullan
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathmullan | 528 | — | 50.6 | 25% | 35% |
| Buncrana | 6,971 | 6.5 km | 39.8 | 16% | 47% |
| Milford | 1,076 | 10.6 km | 39 | 17% | 48% |
| Ramelton | 1,288 | 10.7 km | 41.5 | 18% | 41% |
| Newtowncunningham | 1,192 | 12.1 km | 36.1 | 12% | 55% |
| Muff | 1,418 | 16.7 km | 40.4 | 11% | 44% |
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 Rathmullan’s residents
What is the population of Rathmullan?
Rathmullan had 528 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 13% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Rathmullan?
The median age is 50.6. 18% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rathmullan?
28% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (139 people), and 0.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rathmullan?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 23% were born abroad and 7% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rathmullan?
74% are Catholic, 17% have no religion and 9.4% another religion; 1.7% didn’t say.
Is Rathmullan good for families?
35% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 18% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rathmullan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rathmullan?
Median gross household income in Rathmullan was €46,980 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).