Photo: Harold Strong · CC BY-SA 2.0Ongar is younger than 97% of Irish towns: a median age of 31.6
Compared with 24% across Ireland’s towns, just over one in ten households are one person living alone here. Ongar’s 4,033 households held 13,390 residents at the 2022 Census. Census figures put residents who said they are Catholic at 45% here. Households in flats are more common here than in 79% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Ongar
More born abroad than most towns
44% 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 (18%) and elsewhere in the EU (13%); 30% are citizens of another country. Where people were born ↓
A student neighbourhood
14% of residents aged 15 and over are students, more than in 90% of Irish towns; Ireland’s towns 10%. 14% of residents are 15 to 24. Social class & newcomers ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Ongar’s residents are under 31.6 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 14% are 15 to 24 and 2.5% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A mix of backgrounds
59% of residents describe a background other than White Irish, more than in 98% of Irish towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (27%), Asian or Asian Irish (20%) and Black or Black Irish (7.8%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A growing town: +13% since 2016, faster than 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.
Across Ireland’s towns, half of towns changed by more than +8%; across Co. Dublin’s towns, by more than +6%.
Ongar ranks below 99% of Irish towns on residents aged 65 and over: 2.5%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 40–44: 11% of residents, 1.4 times the share across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 14% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Ongar, 31.6. 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%.
Ongar sits above 90% of Irish towns for students among residents 15 and over (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 24%, against a typical 21%. As a reference point, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns. The census found that nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier in Ongar.
A larger share of households of parents with children than 94% of Irish towns: 56%
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 7.6% here and 4.7% across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns. Each household has 3.4 people on average.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 84% of Irish towns: 7.9%
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
Little separates the share of holiday homes here, 0.1%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. About one household in 13 lives without a car or van.
A median household income of €79,380 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 €79,380 sits 32% above Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Dublin the median is €71,120.
In Ongar, 44% of residents were born outside Ireland, more than in 96% 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 55%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 55%
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 with another country’s citizenship is 30% in Ongar and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents born outside Ireland is 22%. At home, 49% use another language, chiefly Polish (4.9%), and 5.1% speak English not well or not at all.
Able to speak Irish: 33% in Ongar
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
0.8% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. Monkstown leads Co. Dublin with 2.5%.
Ongar sits below 98% of Irish towns for residents who describe themselves as White Irish (41%)
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: 41% of Ongar · Co. Dublin’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (27%), Asian or Asian Irish (20%) and Black or Black Irish (7.8%). On residents with no religion, Ongar sits lower than nearly two thirds of Irish towns: 15%. For comparison, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of unpaid carers than 90% of Irish towns, at 4%
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.
Married residents 15 and over: 37% here and 34% across Ireland’s towns. On average, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Above 76% of Irish towns: 48% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Among residents 15 and over, 21% are still studying. Adults with a degree or higher: 36% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. Of Ongar’s adults, 19% went on to postgraduate study and 3.9% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns).
Youngest by rank: 5th of 41 towns of 11,517 to 15,598 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 29 in Castletroy to 44.7 in Foxrock. Nearest to Ongar in age: Summerhill (30.5), Hollystown (30.9), Fettercairn (32.5) and Ballyowen (33.6).
Ongar is younger than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ongar | 13,390 | — | 31.6 | 2.5% | 56% |
| Clonsilla | 22,510 | 1.0 km | 34.3 | 5.8% | 59% |
| Clonee | 1,205 | 1.4 km | 34.2 | 5.6% | 39% |
| Mulhuddart | 19,252 | 3.1 km | 35.6 | 10% | 50% |
| Dunboyne | 7,155 | 3.2 km | 36.6 | 9.8% | 57% |
| Blanchardstown | 24,613 | 3.7 km | 37.3 | 14% | 45% |
| Carpenterstown | 20,967 | 4.3 km | 37.4 | 11% | 52% |
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 Ongar’s residents
What is the population of Ongar?
Ongar had 13,390 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 13% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ongar?
The median age is 31.6, younger than 97% of Irish towns. 33% are under 18 and 2.5% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ongar?
33% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (3,823 people), and 0.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ongar?
41% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 44% were born abroad and 30% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ongar?
45% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 41% another religion; 10% didn’t say.
Is Ongar good for families?
56% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 33% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ongar are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ongar?
Median gross household income in Ongar was €79,380 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).