Photo: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Castlegar is under 33.1, younger than 93% of Irish towns
43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns, against 31% in Castlegar. Higher than in 88% of Irish towns: 16% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. At the 2022 Census Castlegar was home to 4,315 people in 1,654 households. The census found that just over three in five residents said they are Catholic in the neighbourhood.
What stands out about the people of Castlegar
Younger than most towns
Half of Castlegar’s residents are under 33.1 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 15% are 15 to 24 and 10% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
More born abroad than most towns
35% of residents were born abroad, against 26% across Co. Galway’s towns and 22% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (11%) and elsewhere in the EU (8.7%); 25% are citizens of another country. Where people were born ↓
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 (21%), Asian or Asian Irish (7.1%) and Irish Traveller (4.1%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
A neighbourhood people move to
15% of residents lived somewhere else a year before the Census, 2 times the share across Ireland’s towns; 4.6% came from abroad. Social class & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
More daily speakers of Irish outside education than 95% of Irish towns: 2.3%
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
Castlegar is in the Gaeltacht, the districts where Irish is the community language. In all, 1,401 residents aged 3 and over (37%) can speak Irish.
Castlegar’s population moved +7% on 2016, less than in 57% 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 Ireland’s towns the median change is +8%; across Co. Galway’s towns, +7%.
Castlegar sits above 88% of Irish towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (15%)
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
25–29 is the most common age band: 13% of residents, 2.2 times the share across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 10% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Castlegar, 33.1. 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. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
Above 92% of Irish towns: 15% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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
13% of residents 15 and over are students, against 10% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 7.5%.
Castlegar households average 2.6 people, smaller than in 67% 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.
The census found that nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone in Castlegar.
Castlegar: 37% of households live in a flat or apartment, above 85% 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
Internet at home: broadband for 91%, nothing for 7.5% (typical: 7.6%). On average, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. Here, just over a fifth of households have no car or van.
The middle household earns €52,560 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €52,560 sits 13% below Ireland (€60,120). Co. Galway as a whole has a median of €59,640.
Castlegar ranks above 89% of Irish towns on residents born outside Ireland: 35%
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.
29% speak another language at home, most often Polish (7.5%); 3.4% speak English not well or not at all. Against that, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. On residents with another country’s citizenship, Castlegar sits higher than 86% of Irish towns: 25%.
A lower share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 89% of Irish towns, at 61%
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 Castlegar · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (21%), Castlegar is above 70% of Irish towns. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 78% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
28% of residents 15 and over are married, below 87% 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.
Students and young renters account for much of that. For Castlegar, the census puts unpaid carers at 3.9%. 64% of the neighbourhood’s residents 15 and over are single and 28% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
A higher share of adults with a degree or higher than 62% of Irish towns, at 41%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate: 15% of adults. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of adults with a degree or higher is 36%. Primary level or earlier: 6.6%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns.
In its size band (3,720 to 5,000), the 4th youngest of 41 towns
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Dangan (27.5) and the oldest Montenotte (46.5). Nearest to Castlegar in age: Saggart (32), Woodquay and Nuns Island (32.1), Newcastle (33.9) and Stamullen (34.4).
Nearby, 2 of 6 towns have older populations than Castlegar
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castlegar | 4,315 | — | 33.1 | 10% | 31% |
| Ballinfoile and Terryland | 5,851 | 1.1 km | 30.4 | 12% | 30% |
| Mervue | 4,126 | 1.7 km | 37.4 | 16% | 29% |
| Eyre Square | 6,801 | 2.5 km | 35.1 | 15% | 17% |
| Woodquay and Nuns Island | 4,948 | 2.5 km | 32.1 | 11% | 11% |
| Murrough | 2,909 | 3.1 km | 32.8 | 12% | 33% |
| Dangan | 4,621 | 3.1 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.
- Neighbourhoods are sums of small areas. Neighbourhood figures are TownRatings sums of CSO Small Areas
Questions about Castlegar’s residents
What is the population of Castlegar?
Castlegar had 4,315 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Castlegar?
The median age is 33.1, younger than 93% of Irish towns. 19% are under 18 and 10% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Castlegar?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,401 people), and 2.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Castlegar?
61% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 35% were born abroad and 25% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Castlegar?
61% are Catholic, 21% have no religion and 17% another religion; 8.3% didn’t say.
Is Castlegar good for families?
31% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 19% of residents are under 18. Schools near Castlegar are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Castlegar?
Median gross household income in Castlegar was €52,560 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).