Photo: Gareth James · CC BY-SA 2.0Clifden is older than 97% of Irish towns: a median age of 44.3
The typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 36% of households are one person living alone in Clifden. Higher than in 80% of Irish towns: 27% of households have no car or van. The 2022 Census counted 1,259 residents in 515 households.
What stands out about the people of Clifden
One home in 5 is a holiday home
About 160 of 820 homes were empty holiday homes on Census night (20%), more than in 99% of Irish towns; 14% were vacant. Homes & cars ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Clifden’s residents are under 44.3 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 23% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than before
Clifden went from about 1,320 people in 2016 to 1,259 in 2022, −5%: slower growth than in 99% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Since 2016, Clifden has changed by −5%, slower than 99% 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.
The median across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Galway’s towns +7%.
Above 95% of Irish towns: 23% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
9.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (Ireland’s towns: 12%). More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: 8% of residents. Against that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
8% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 93% 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
6.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier (Ireland’s towns: 7.5%). Measured more widely, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of households of parents with children than 77% of Irish towns: 36%
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults account for 4.3%. Elsewhere, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns.
Holiday homes make up 20% in Clifden, more than in 99% 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
Home broadband covers 84% of households, while 13% go without the internet (typical: 7.6%). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of holiday homes is 0.2%. Here, just over a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment.
Half above, half below €40,900 a year in household income
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Clifden’s households have a gross income below €40,900 a year, 32% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Galway has a median of €59,640.
Above 54% of Irish towns: 23% 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 two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the UK (9.2%) and elsewhere in the EU (6.2%). On average, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. 15% of residents are citizens of another country, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
In Clifden, Irish is spoken by 33% of residents
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
The highest share in Co. Galway belongs to Knocknacarra (4.5%). In all, 373 residents aged 3 and over (33%) can speak Irish. Clifden sits close to the norm on daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.2%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns.
More residents who said they are Catholic than 67% of Irish towns: 74%
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: 80% of Clifden · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (15%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.2%) and Irish Traveller (1.9%). The share of residents who said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns is 71%. 80% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, against 78% across Ireland’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over make up 32% in Clifden, less than in 70% 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.
There is little gap on unpaid carers: 5.1%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
29% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 68% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Clifden’s adults, 8.9% went on to postgraduate study and 12% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Against that, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
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.
Questions about Clifden’s residents
What is the population of Clifden?
Clifden had 1,259 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Clifden?
The median age is 44.3. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Clifden?
33% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (373 people), and 1.2% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Clifden?
80% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 23% were born abroad and 15% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Clifden?
74% are Catholic, 18% have no religion and 8% another religion; 6.9% didn’t say.
Is Clifden good for families?
36% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 20% of residents are under 18. Schools near Clifden are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Clifden?
Median gross household income in Clifden was €40,900 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).