Photo: Ian Capper · CC BY-SA 2.023% of households are parents with children, fewer than in 91% of Irish towns
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of holiday homes is 0.2%; Claddagh has 2.7%. The neighbourhood had 2,755 residents in 1,175 households at the 2022 Census. Shared households of unrelated adults: 16% of the total. With a median age of 38.9, Claddagh is older than 66% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Claddagh
Many older residents
20% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 88% of Irish towns; 5.8% are 80 or over, and 31% of households are one person living alone. Ages ↓
A neighbourhood people move to
14% of residents lived somewhere else a year before the Census, 1.9 times the share across Ireland’s towns; 3.3% came from abroad. Social class & newcomers ↓
More with no religion than most
27% answered “no religion”, against 17% across Ireland’s towns; 61% are Catholic (71%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Slower growth than 57% of Irish towns: Claddagh changed by +6% 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.
The median change is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +7% across Co. Galway’s towns.
20% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 88% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
In Claddagh, 14% of residents are aged 15 to 24, beside 12% across Ireland’s towns. The biggest five-year age group is 25–29, with just over one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Claddagh, 38.9. 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%.
More residents who moved in within the year than 90% of Irish towns: 14%
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
In Claddagh, the professional, managerial and technical classes take in 43% of residents and the semi-skilled and unskilled classes 13%, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year across Ireland’s towns is 7.5%.
Smaller households than 93% of Irish towns: 2.3 people 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.
31% of households are one person living alone, against 24% across Ireland’s towns.
A neighbourhood of flats: 38% of households live in one
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
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 17%; Claddagh has 29%. The usual figure: 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
The middle household earns €53,360 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €53,360 a year, 11% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Galway comes in at €59,640 at the median.
Claddagh: 29% of residents 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.
Most residents from abroad were born outside the EU and UK (14%) or elsewhere in the EU (7.2%). As a reference point, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Residents with another country’s citizenship are more common here than in 78% of Irish towns.
Claddagh ranks above 98% of Irish towns on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 3.1%
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%). As a yardstick, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Claddagh sits above 88% of Irish towns for residents with no religion (27%)
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: 77% of Claddagh · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 71% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic in Claddagh comes in at 61%. At 77%, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish is lower than in 56% of Irish towns. The usual figure: 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. Other than White Irish, most residents describe themselves as Other White (14%), Asian or Asian Irish (4%) and Other, including mixed (3.5%).
Below 68% of Irish towns: 32% of residents 15 and over are married
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.
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 6.2%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of adults with a degree or higher than 84% of Irish towns: 54%
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 nearly a quarter of adults; primary level or less for 7% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (2,510 to 3,211 people), the 19th oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 30.4 in Kilbarry to 45.5 in Ballybrack. Nearest to Claddagh in age: Bundoran (38.4), Athboy (38.8), Kylemore (39) and Moate (39).
Nearby, 2 of 6 towns have older populations than Claddagh
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claddagh | 2,755 | — | 38.9 | 20% | 23% |
| Woodquay and Nuns Island | 4,948 | 1.2 km | 32.1 | 11% | 11% |
| Salthill | 5,445 | 1.4 km | 40.4 | 20% | 27% |
| Taylor's Hill | 3,141 | 1.5 km | 31.8 | 14% | 36% |
| Eyre Square | 6,801 | 1.6 km | 35.1 | 15% | 17% |
| Newcastle | 4,032 | 1.6 km | 42.5 | 28% | 24% |
| Dangan | 4,621 | 2.3 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).
- 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 Claddagh’s residents
What is the population of Claddagh?
Claddagh had 2,755 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Claddagh?
The median age is 38.9, older than 66% of Irish towns. 13% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Claddagh?
48% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,181 people), and 3.1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Claddagh?
77% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 29% were born abroad and 22% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Claddagh?
61% are Catholic, 27% have no religion and 12% another religion; 8.6% didn’t say.
Is Claddagh good for families?
23% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 13% of residents are under 18. Schools near Claddagh are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Claddagh?
Median gross household income in Claddagh was €53,360 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).