Photo: The original uploader was Suckindiesel at English Wikipedia . · CC BY 2.5Older than 94% of Irish towns: half of Rathfarnham is over 43.3
Set against 17% across Ireland’s towns, just over a fifth of residents said they have no religion in Rathfarnham. The neighbourhood had 17,508 residents in 6,493 households at the 2022 Census. There are about as many residents as in 2016. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are scarce here: 3.9%, fewer than in 64% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Rathfarnham
Older than most towns
Half of Rathfarnham’s residents are under 43.3 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 22% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Growing more slowly than most
Rathfarnham went from about 17,480 people in 2016 to 17,508 in 2022, ±0%: slower growth than in 91% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Many carers
About 1,190 residents (6.8%) give regular unpaid care, more than in 95% of Irish towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Rathfarnham changed by ±0% from 2016 to 2022, slower than 91% 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%.
22% of residents are 65 or over, a share 94% of Irish towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: 6.8% of residents. Set beside that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. On residents aged 15 to 24, Rathfarnham sits lower than nearly two thirds of Irish towns: 11%. In Dalkey, the oldest of Co. Dublin’s towns by this measure, it is 29%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Rathfarnham, 43.3. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Dublin 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 12% in Rathfarnham, more than in 69% 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 Rathfarnham, 65% and 5.2%. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 7.2%.
Larger households than 54% of Irish towns: 2.7 people 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.
One-person households make up 23%, against 24% across Ireland’s towns. On households of parents with children, Rathfarnham sits lower than half of Irish towns: 42%.
In Rathfarnham, 8% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 83% 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: 96% on broadband; 3.7% offline (typical: 7.6%). Across Ireland’s towns, 17% of households have no car or van. Holiday homes: 0.2% of the total. At 12%, the share of households in flats is higher than in 50% of Irish towns.
Median household income here: €88,130 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of households are above €88,130 a year before tax: 47% over the Ireland median (€60,120). Across Co. Dublin the median is €71,120.
7.4% of residents are citizens of another country, below 91% 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.
At home, 11% use another language, chiefly Spanish (1.6%), and 1% speak English not well or not at all. Across Ireland’s towns, residents with another country’s citizenship come to 15%. Residents born outside Ireland are rarer here than in 86% of Irish towns.
1.8% of residents speak Irish every day outside education
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
Some 8,562 people here, just over half of residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Across Ireland’s towns, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education. In Co. Dublin, Monkstown has the highest share (2.5%).
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish make up 88% in Rathfarnham, more than in 90% 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: 88% of Rathfarnham · Co. Dublin’s towns 78% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White Irish, most residents describe themselves as Other White (5.9%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.1%) and Other, including mixed (2.2%). Compared with other places, residents who said they are Catholic are scarce here: 69%, fewer than in 62% of Irish towns. On average, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 97% of Irish towns: 44%
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.
5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns, against 6.8% in Rathfarnham. The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Rathfarnham: 59% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, above 91% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Rathfarnham’s adults, 25% went on to postgraduate study and 4.1% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Adults with a degree or higher: 36% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Of 41 towns its size (14,529 to 20,967 people), the 2nd oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Castletroy is the youngest (29); Ballinteer the oldest (44.1). Nearest to Rathfarnham in age: Beaumont (42.9), Templeogue (43.3) and Ballinteer (44.1).
1 of the 6 nearest towns are older than Rathfarnham
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathfarnham | 17,508 | — | 43.3 | 22% | 42% |
| Ballyboden | 5,246 | 1.5 km | 41.5 | 18% | 50% |
| Edmondstown | 5,451 | 1.6 km | 39.5 | 13% | 50% |
| Churchtown | 10,044 | 1.7 km | 40.5 | 19% | 42% |
| Rathgar | 5,768 | 2.4 km | 34.2 | 18% | 30% |
| Ballinteer | 16,038 | 2.5 km | 44.1 | 24% | 41% |
| Templeogue | 18,076 | 2.5 km | 43.3 | 23% | 42% |
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 Rathfarnham’s residents
What is the population of Rathfarnham?
Rathfarnham had 17,508 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Rathfarnham?
The median age is 43.3, older than 94% of Irish towns. 21% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Rathfarnham?
51% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (8,562 people), and 1.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Rathfarnham?
88% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 7.4% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Rathfarnham?
69% are Catholic, 21% have no religion and 10% another religion; 2.1% didn’t say.
Is Rathfarnham good for families?
42% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near Rathfarnham are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Rathfarnham?
Median gross household income in Rathfarnham was €88,130 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).