Photo: Graham Horn · CC BY-SA 2.0A holiday town: 6.2% of homes are holiday homes
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of households of parents with children is 43%; Bearna has 48%. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 90% of the total. Lower than in 88% of Irish towns: 2.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 2,336, in 805 households.
What stands out about the people of Bearna
Irish spoken every day, in the Gaeltacht
9.6% of residents speak Irish every day outside education, more than in 99% of Irish towns; 72% can speak it. Bearna is in the Gaeltacht. Irish speakers ↓
A student town
15% of residents aged 15 and over are students, more than in 92% of Irish towns; Ireland’s towns 10%. 13% of residents are 15 to 24. Social class & newcomers ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Bearna’s residents are under 42.4 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 16% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
About 170 residents (7.1%) give regular unpaid care, more than in 96% of Irish towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Daily speakers of Irish outside education make up 9.6% in Bearna, more than in 99% 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
Irish speakers number 1,585, or 72% of residents aged 3 and over. As a reference point, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
+4% since 2016: slower than 76% 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.
Elsewhere, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +7% across Co. Galway’s towns.
Bearna is older than 91% of Irish towns: a median age of 42.4
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Compared with 12% across Ireland’s towns, 13% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. At 16%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is higher than in 67% of Irish towns.
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%.
In Bearna, 15% of residents 15 and over are students, more than in 92% 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
Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 7.5% across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Bigger households than 75% of Irish towns: 2.9 people each on average
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.
One-person households: 20%, below 70% of Irish towns.
Bearna ranks below 98% of Irish towns on households without a car or van: 4.1%
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
3.4% of households have no internet access (typical: 7.6%); 95% have broadband. For households without a car or van, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 17%. Locally, nearly one in ten households live in a flat or apartment.
€90,880 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.
Half of Bearna’s households have a gross income above €90,880 a year, 51% above the median for Ireland (€60,120). Countywide in Co. Galway, the median is €59,640.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 6% in Bearna, less than in 97% 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 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.
At home, 7.2% use another language, chiefly Polish (1.3%), and 0.7% speak English not well or not at all. Residents born outside Ireland are rarer here than in 78% of Irish towns. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is 15%.
Bearna ranks above 77% of Irish towns on residents who said they are Catholic: 76%
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: 90% of Bearna · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (6.4%), Other, including mixed (2.1%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.8%). Against that, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. On residents with no religion, Bearna sits higher than nearly three fifths of Irish towns: 19%.
45% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 99% of Irish towns don’t reach
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 share of unpaid carers is 7.1%, against 5.4% across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
63% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, more than in 95% of Irish towns
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 32% of adults; primary level or less for 3.5% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Typically, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns. Still in education: 18% of residents 15 and over.
Of the 6 towns nearest Bearna, 1 are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bearna | 2,336 | — | 42.4 | 16% | 48% |
| Knocknacarra | 18,398 | 3.5 km | 38 | 11% | 44% |
| Salthill | 5,445 | 5.3 km | 40.4 | 20% | 27% |
| Taylor's Hill | 3,141 | 5.6 km | 31.8 | 14% | 36% |
| Rahoon | 3,486 | 5.7 km | 35.2 | 11% | 39% |
| Newcastle | 4,032 | 6.4 km | 42.5 | 28% | 24% |
| Dangan | 4,621 | 6.4 km | 27.5 | 13% | 27% |
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 Bearna’s residents
What is the population of Bearna?
Bearna had 2,336 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Bearna?
The median age is 42.4. 26% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Bearna?
72% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,585 people), and 9.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns. Bearna is in the Gaeltacht, the districts where Irish is the community language.
How diverse is Bearna?
90% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 17% were born abroad and 6% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Bearna?
76% are Catholic, 19% have no religion and 4.7% another religion; 3.3% didn’t say.
Is Bearna good for families?
48% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Bearna are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Bearna?
Median gross household income in Bearna was €90,880 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).