Photo: Rossographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in flats: 71%, a higher share than 97% of Irish towns
Households average 2.2 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. In 2022, the Census found 18,799 residents in Dolphins Barn, living in 7,782 households. On the census count, 29% of households are one person living alone. With a median age of 34.6, Dolphins Barn is younger than 83% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Dolphins Barn
More born abroad than most towns
37% of residents were born abroad, against 23% across Co. Dublin’s towns and 22% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (17%) and elsewhere in the EU (10%); 33% are citizens of another country. Where people were born ↓
More with no religion than most
34% answered “no religion”, against 17% across Ireland’s towns; 48% are Catholic (71%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
A mix of backgrounds
39% of residents describe a background other than White Irish, more than in 90% of Irish towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (20%), Asian or Asian Irish (9.4%) and Other, including mixed (6.1%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
A neighbourhood of flats
71% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 97% of Irish towns. 50% have no car. Homes & cars ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Faster growth than 77% of Irish towns: Dolphins Barn changed by +13% since 2016
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.
For comparison, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +6% across Co. Dublin’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over: 10%, a lower share than 78% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 25–29 than any other five-year age: 14% of residents, 2.4 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Across Dolphins Barn, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Dolphins Barn, 34.6. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Dublin 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
Dolphins Barn: 15% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 91% 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
9.4% of residents 15 and over are students, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. On average, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of households of parents with children than 92% of Irish towns: 22%
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Dublin’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 20%, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns. The benchmark for households of parents with children across Ireland’s towns: 43%.
50% of households have no car or van, more than in 95% 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
Connected households: 90% on broadband; 8.3% offline (typical: 7.6%). By way of comparison, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns. For Dolphins Barn, the census puts holiday homes at 0.2%.
Half of households earn more than €64,100 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Dolphins Barn’s households have a gross income above €64,100 a year, 7% above the median for Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €71,120 across Co. Dublin.
In Dolphins Barn, 37% of residents were born outside Ireland, more than in 90% 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 45%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 45%
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.
Residents born abroad were most often born outside the EU and UK (17%), then elsewhere in the EU (10%). Compared with other places, residents with another country’s citizenship are common here: 33%, more than in 93% of Irish towns. Elsewhere, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
Irish: 27% of Dolphins Barn’s residents can speak it
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
Within Co. Dublin, Monkstown has the largest share, 2.5%. 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, a higher share than in 52% of Irish towns.
34% said they have no religion, more than in 95% 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: 61% of Dolphins Barn · Co. Dublin’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
After White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (20%), Asian or Asian Irish (9.4%) and Other, including mixed (6.1%). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 17%. 61% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, fewer than in 90% of Irish towns. Set against 71% across Ireland’s towns, 48% of residents said they are Catholic in Dolphins Barn.
Fewer married residents 15 and over than 94% of Irish towns: 24%
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.
Where 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns, Dolphins Barn has 3.6%. By way of comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of adults with a degree or higher than 86% of Irish towns: 55%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Dolphins Barn’s adults, 25% went on to postgraduate study and 9.5% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). The share of adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns is 36%.
8th lowest median age among 41 towns of 15,598 to 22,667
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit East Wall (31.2), the youngest, and Ballinteer (44.1), the oldest. Nearest to Dolphins Barn in age: Clonsilla (34.3), Rathmines West (34.3), Mulhuddart (35.6) and Ashbourne (35.6).
Dolphins Barn is younger than 3 of its 6 nearest neighbours
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolphins Barn | 18,799 | — | 34.6 | 10% | 22% |
| The Liberties | 18,460 | 1.0 km | 32.5 | 7.5% | 20% |
| Kilmainham | 10,240 | 1.6 km | 36.7 | 12% | 27% |
| Stoneybatter | 18,644 | 1.6 km | 33.4 | 7.2% | 16% |
| Crumlin | 19,287 | 1.6 km | 39 | 16% | 35% |
| Christchurch | 6,778 | 1.7 km | 37.7 | 13% | 18% |
| Temple Bar | 7,276 | 1.9 km | 31.4 | 6.2% | 12% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Dublin’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Dublin’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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas
Questions about Dolphins Barn’s residents
What is the population of Dolphins Barn?
Dolphins Barn had 18,799 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 13% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Dolphins Barn?
The median age is 34.6, younger than 83% of Irish towns. 13% are under 18 and 10% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Dolphins Barn?
27% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (4,012 people), and 1.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Dolphins Barn?
61% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 37% were born abroad and 33% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Dolphins Barn?
48% are Catholic, 34% have no religion and 18% another religion; 19% didn’t say.
Is Dolphins Barn good for families?
22% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 13% of residents are under 18. Schools near Dolphins Barn are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Dolphins Barn?
Median gross household income in Dolphins Barn was €64,100 in 2022, against €71,120 across Co. Dublin 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 · Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas. 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).