Photo: Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 98% of Irish towns: 8.8%
With one-person households at 17%, Portmarnock is behind 84% of Irish towns on that count. 6.4% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 91% of Irish towns. There were 3,843 households in the town at the 2022 Census, home to 10,750 residents. For Portmarnock, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 3.1%.
What stands out about the people of Portmarnock
Older than most towns
Half of Portmarnock’s residents are under 41.2 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 21% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Portmarnock’s population changed by +17% since 2016, more than in 84% 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. Dublin’s towns the median is +6%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
Portmarnock: 21% of residents are 65 or over, above 92% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 40–44, with nearly one in ten residents. With a median age of 41.2, Portmarnock is older than 86% of Irish towns. As a yardstick, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. In Dalkey, the oldest of Co. Dublin’s towns by this measure, it is 29%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Portmarnock, 41.2. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Dublin 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
8.5% of residents 15 and over are students, below 87% 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
Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Portmarnock, 60% and 5.7%. On the census count, 8.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Bigger households than 68% of Irish towns: 2.8 people each on average
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 households of parents with children is 45%, against 43% across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of households in flats than 70% of Irish towns: 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
Portmarnock sits close to the norm on holiday homes: 0.4%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. The share of households in flats across Ireland’s towns is 12%.
Households here have a median income of €90,700 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Gross household income has a median of €90,700 a year here, 51% above Ireland (€60,120). In Co. Dublin overall, the median comes to €71,120.
Fewer residents born outside Ireland than 78% of Irish towns: 17%
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.
Spanish leads the languages spoken at home (1.8%), among the 12% who speak another language there; 0.7% speak English not well or not at all. Compared with other places, residents with another country’s citizenship are scarce here: 9.6%, fewer than in nearly four fifths of Irish towns. Across the comparison, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
46% of Portmarnock’s residents 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
Within Co. Dublin, Monkstown has the largest share, 2.5%. Lower than in nearly two thirds of Irish towns: 0.9% of residents speak Irish daily outside education.
Portmarnock: 86% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, above 84% 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: 86% of Portmarnock · Co. Dublin’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (20%), Portmarnock is above nearly two thirds of Irish towns. Compared with other places, residents who said they are Catholic are common here: 73%, more than in 63% of Irish towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns is 78%. Behind White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (8.5%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.5%) and Other, including mixed (1.7%).
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 99% of Irish towns: 46%
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.
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 6.1%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. Elsewhere, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
More adults with a degree or higher than 80% of Irish towns: 51%
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 just over a fifth of adults; primary level or less for 4.7% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Across Ireland’s towns, adults with a degree or higher come to 36%.
Ranked by age, 8th oldest of 41 towns this size
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Summerhill is the youngest (30.5); Foxrock the oldest (44.7). Nearest to Portmarnock in age: Cabra West (40.8), Kilnamanagh (41.2), Ballygall (41.9) and Shankill (42.2).
Portmarnock sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbours on median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portmarnock | 10,750 | — | 41.2 | 21% | 45% |
| Malahide | 18,608 | 2.8 km | 42 | 17% | 48% |
| Clongriffin | 7,438 | 3.0 km | 33.7 | 6.8% | 44% |
| Baldoyle | 7,864 | 3.3 km | 40.9 | 17% | 43% |
| Belmayne | 15,047 | 3.7 km | 33.8 | 6.8% | 52% |
| Sutton | 5,789 | 4.2 km | 45.4 | 26% | 41% |
| Donaghmede | 9,616 | 4.6 km | 43.8 | 23% | 41% |
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 Portmarnock’s residents
What is the population of Portmarnock?
Portmarnock had 10,750 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 17% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Portmarnock?
The median age is 41.2, older than 86% of Irish towns. 24% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Portmarnock?
46% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (4,579 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Portmarnock?
86% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 17% were born abroad and 9.6% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Portmarnock?
73% are Catholic, 20% have no religion and 7.3% another religion; 3.4% didn’t say.
Is Portmarnock good for families?
45% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Portmarnock are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Portmarnock?
Median gross household income in Portmarnock was €90,700 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).