Photo: O'Dea · CC BY-SA 4.0In An Spidéal, 11% of homes are holiday homes, more than in 99% of Irish towns
17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns, against 26% in An Spidéal. One-person households are more common here than in 92% of Irish towns. Its 96 households held 254 residents at the 2022 Census. On the census count, 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
What stands out about the people of An Spidéal
Irish spoken every day, in the Gaeltacht
36% of residents speak Irish every day outside education, more than in 99% of Irish towns; 76% can speak it. An Spidéal is in the Gaeltacht. Irish speakers ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
An Spidéal ranks above 99% of Irish towns on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 36%
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
An Spidéal is in the Gaeltacht, the districts where Irish is the community language. Speakers of Irish: 182 residents, just over three quarters of those aged 3 and over.
A +28% change since 2016: An Spidéal grew faster than 95% 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.
Medians for comparison: +8% across Ireland’s towns; +7% across Co. Galway’s towns.
An Spidéal is older than 73% of Irish towns: a median age of 39.5
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 12%; An Spidéal has 11%. Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in 62% of Irish towns: 13%. 40–44 is the most common age band: 9.4% of residents.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
9.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 75% 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
Students among residents 15 and over make up 11%, against 10% across Ireland’s towns. The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 7.5% across Ireland’s towns.
Households here average 2.5 people, below 80% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Galway’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Parents with children are 46% of households (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 32% are one person living alone (Co. Galway’s towns 25%).
More households in flats than 82% of Irish towns: 31%
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
Here 15% of households have no car or van, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 17%. For comparison, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
€63,320 a year: where the middle household sits
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €63,320 gross, 5% more than the Ireland median (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Galway has a median of €59,640.
Below 71% of Irish towns: 18% of residents were born outside Ireland
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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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 largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (6.9%) and in the UK (5.7%). On residents with another country’s citizenship, An Spidéal sits lower than 64% of Irish towns: 12%. Across Ireland’s towns, residents born outside Ireland come to 22%.
In An Spidéal, 85% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, more than in 79% 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: 85% of An Spidéal · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White Irish come Other White (9%), Asian or Asian Irish (3.3%) and Other, including mixed (2%). Lower than in 63% of Irish towns: 68% of residents said they are Catholic. Typically, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
7.9% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 99% 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.
The figure for married residents 15 and over is 31% in An Spidéal and 34% across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
An Spidéal: 57% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, above 88% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Primary level or earlier: 4%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Postgraduate: 25% of adults.
2 of the 6 nearest towns are older than An Spidéal
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An Spidéal | 254 | — | 39.5 | 13% | 46% |
| Bearna | 2,336 | 10.0 km | 42.4 | 16% | 48% |
| Maigh Cuilinn | 2,279 | 12.9 km | 38.1 | 13% | 51% |
| Knocknacarra | 18,398 | 13.2 km | 38 | 11% | 44% |
| Rahoon | 3,486 | 15.1 km | 35.2 | 11% | 39% |
| Salthill | 5,445 | 15.3 km | 40.4 | 20% | 27% |
| Taylor's Hill | 3,141 | 15.4 km | 31.8 | 14% | 36% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Galway’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Galway’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).
- Speaking Irish. CSO asks everyone aged 3 and over whether they can speak Irish and how often; “daily outside education” leaves out speaking it only at school.
- 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 An Spidéal’s residents
What is the population of An Spidéal?
An Spidéal had 254 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 28% more than 2016.
What is the average age in An Spidéal?
The median age is 39.5. 21% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in An Spidéal?
76% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (182 people), and 36% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is An Spidéal?
85% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 18% were born abroad and 12% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in An Spidéal?
68% are Catholic, 26% have no religion and 6.1% another religion; 3.5% didn’t say.
Is An Spidéal good for families?
46% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 21% of residents are under 18. Schools near An Spidéal are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in An Spidéal?
Median gross household income in An Spidéal was €63,320 in 2022, against €59,640 across Co. Galway 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).