Photo: A.-K. D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Younger than 87% of Irish towns: half of Ballybane is under 34.1
The share of residents who said they are Catholic trails two thirds of Irish towns: 67%. Census figures put households in flats at 27% in Ballybane. The neighbourhood has fewer one-person households than 66% of Irish towns, at 21%. At the 2022 Census Ballybane was home to 15,082 people in 5,421 households.
What stands out about the people of Ballybane
A student neighbourhood
14% of residents aged 15 and over are students, more than in 89% of Irish towns; Ireland’s towns 10%. 16% of residents are 15 to 24. Social class & newcomers ↓
A mix of backgrounds
39% of residents describe a background other than White Irish, more than in 89% of Irish towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (20%), Black or Black Irish (6.5%) and Irish Traveller (4.8%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Ballybane’s residents are under 34.1 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 16% are 15 to 24 and 7.1% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Slower growth than 77% of Irish towns: Ballybane changed by +3% since 2016
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.
Ballybane sits below 90% of Irish towns for residents aged 65 and over (7.1%)
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Across Ireland’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24; in Ballybane, 16%. To put it in context, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Ballybane, 34.1. 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. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
Students among residents 15 and over make up 14% in Ballybane, more than in 89% 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, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 7.5%; Ballybane has 10%. 31% of the neighbourhood’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 20% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns.
Above 84% of Irish towns: 14% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, households average 2.7 people; in Ballybane, 2.8. On households of parents with children, Ballybane sits lower than 61% of Irish towns: 41%. For comparison, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns.
In Ballybane, 19% of households have no car or van, more than in 57% 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
92% of households are on broadband; 6% have no internet connection (typical: 7.6%). Here, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes. For households without a car or van, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 17%.
The middle household earns €61,320 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 €61,320 a year here, close to Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Galway as a whole, the figure is €59,640.
Above 82% of Irish towns: 31% 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 40%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
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 (9.2%) and in Poland (7.8%). Across the comparison, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Residents with another country’s citizenship are more common here than in nearly four fifths of Irish towns.
1.6% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, more than in 81% of Irish towns
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
No town in Co. Galway beats Knocknacarra (4.5%). Against that, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
61% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, fewer than in 89% 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: 61% of Ballybane · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White Irish, the main groups are Other White (20%), Black or Black Irish (6.5%) and Irish Traveller (4.8%). The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns: 78%. Residents with no religion: 18% here and 17% across Ireland’s towns.
Ballybane sits below 80% of Irish towns for married residents 15 and over (30%)
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.
Ballybane sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 4.5%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. By way of comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of adults with a degree or higher than 61% of Irish towns: 41%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Across Ireland’s towns, one in ten adults finished at primary level or earlier; in Ballybane, 8.2%, and 14% hold a postgraduate qualification. Elsewhere, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Among residents 15 and over, 19% are still studying.
In its size band (12,743 to 17,508), the 10th youngest of 41 towns
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Castletroy is the youngest (29); Ballinteer the oldest (44.1). Nearest to Ballybane in age: Ballyowen (33.6), Belmayne (33.8), Ballsbridge (35) and Ashbourne (35.6).
Ballybane sits below 2 of its 6 closest neighbours on median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballybane | 15,082 | — | 34.1 | 7.1% | 41% |
| Murrough | 2,909 | 1.5 km | 32.8 | 12% | 33% |
| Mervue | 4,126 | 2.1 km | 37.4 | 16% | 29% |
| Castlegar | 4,315 | 3.1 km | 33.1 | 10% | 31% |
| Eyre Square | 6,801 | 3.4 km | 35.1 | 15% | 17% |
| Ballinfoile and Terryland | 5,851 | 4.1 km | 30.4 | 12% | 30% |
| Woodquay and Nuns Island | 4,948 | 4.3 km | 32.1 | 11% | 11% |
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).
- 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 Ballybane’s residents
What is the population of Ballybane?
Ballybane had 15,082 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballybane?
The median age is 34.1, younger than 87% of Irish towns. 24% are under 18 and 7.1% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballybane?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (4,644 people), and 1.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballybane?
61% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 31% were born abroad and 22% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballybane?
67% are Catholic, 18% have no religion and 15% another religion; 13% didn’t say.
Is Ballybane good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballybane are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballybane?
Median gross household income in Ballybane was €61,320 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 · 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).