Photo: Andrew Mcmillan · CC BY 3.0A larger share of households of parents with children than 98% of Irish towns: 59%
Here 5.6% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 14%. The 2022 Census put Donabate’s population at 9,669, in 3,157 households. In Donabate, 15% of households are one person living alone. Compared with other places, households without a car or van are scarce here: 8.2%, fewer than in just over four fifths of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Donabate
A town of families
50% of households are couples with children and 9.1% lone parents with children, more than in 98% of Irish towns; 24% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A student town
14% of residents aged 15 and over are students, more than in 89% of Irish towns; Ireland’s towns 10%. 14% of residents are 15 to 24. Social class & newcomers ↓
Growing faster than most
Donabate went from about 7,710 people in 2016 to 9,669 in 2022, +25%: faster growth than in 94% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
+25% since 2016, a pace 94% of Irish towns didn’t match
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 Ireland’s towns, the typical town changed +8%; across Co. Dublin’s towns, +6%.
A median age of 35.6: Donabate is younger than 75% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
14% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (Ireland’s towns: 12%). In Dalkey, the oldest of Co. Dublin’s towns by this measure, it is 29%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Donabate, 35.6. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Dublin 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
More students among residents 15 and over than 89% of Irish towns: 14%
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
Among the working population, professional occupations make up 29%, against a typical 21%. Across Ireland’s towns, 10% of residents 15 and over are students. Residents who moved in within the year: 6.5% of the total.
3.1 people per household, more than in 93% of Irish towns
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.7%; Donabate has 2.3%.
A higher share of households in flats than 68% 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 96%; 2.9% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). As a yardstick, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. 0.5% of homes are holiday homes.
Households here have a median income of €95,870 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 €95,870, 59% higher than across Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Dublin as a whole, the figure is €71,120.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 12% in Donabate, less than in 66% 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 most common home language after English is Polish (2.1%); in all 18% speak another language, and 1.4% speak English not well or not at all. Fewer residents born outside Ireland than in 56% of Irish towns: 20%. The usual figure: 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
Irish speakers make up 43% of Donabate
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
Top of Co. Dublin: Monkstown, at 2.5%. Donabate has more daily speakers of Irish outside education than nearly three fifths of Irish towns, at 1.2%.
More residents with no religion than 80% of Irish towns: 24%
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: 80% of Donabate · Co. Dublin’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Here nearly two thirds of residents said they are Catholic, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 71%. By contrast, on residents who describe themselves as White Irish, Donabate sits higher than 57% of Irish towns: 80%. The benchmark for residents with no religion across Ireland’s towns: 17%. The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (13%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.4%) and Black or Black Irish (2.1%).
In Donabate, 39% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 85% 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.
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 4.9%. The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
In Donabate, 52% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, more than in 82% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, just over a fifth of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 3.9% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Adults with a degree or higher make up 36% across Ireland’s towns. Among residents 15 and over, 18% are still studying.
41 towns of 8,505 to 11,149 people: this is the 6th youngest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Kilcock (33.1), the youngest, and Donaghmede (43.8), the oldest. Nearest to Donabate in age: Sandyford (35.2), Lusk (35.3), Hollyhill and Ballincolly (35.7) and Ronanstown (35.9).
Donabate sits below 4 of its 6 closest neighbours on median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
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.
Questions about Donabate’s residents
What is the population of Donabate?
Donabate had 9,669 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 25% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Donabate?
The median age is 35.6, younger than 75% of Irish towns. 29% are under 18 and 5.6% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Donabate?
43% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (3,886 people), and 1.2% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Donabate?
80% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 20% were born abroad and 12% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Donabate?
66% are Catholic, 24% have no religion and 10% another religion; 3.1% didn’t say.
Is Donabate good for families?
59% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 29% of residents are under 18. Schools near Donabate are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Donabate?
Median gross household income in Donabate was €95,870 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. 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).