Photo: Seod13ie · CC02.3% of homes are holiday homes, more than in 92% of Irish towns
7.9% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 4.7% across Ireland’s towns. The 2022 Census put Knocknacarra’s population at 18,398, in 6,771 households. Residents with no religion account for 22%. Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in 72% of Irish towns: 11%.
4.5% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, a share 99% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
8,998 residents, 54% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Knocknacarra is in the Gaeltacht, the districts where Irish is the community language. It is the highest share of Co. Galway’s 20 towns of 2,500+. Against that, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Knocknacarra grew +8% from 2016 to 2022, faster than 52% 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.
13% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 71% of Irish towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The median age in Knocknacarra is 38, higher than in 54% of Irish towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. 40–44 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents. In Newcastle, the oldest of Co. Galway’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Knocknacarra, 38. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
Knocknacarra ranks above 84% of Irish towns on students among residents 15 and over: 13%
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%; Knocknacarra has 9.9%. Against that, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
2.7 people per household, more than in 59% 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.
Households of parents with children: 44% here and 43% across Ireland’s towns. For Knocknacarra, the census puts one-person households at 23%.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 76% of Irish towns, at 9.8%
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
Most homes are connected: 96% have broadband, and 3.4% have no internet (typical: 7.6%). 18% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 70% of Irish towns. The benchmark for households without a car or van across Ireland’s towns: 17%.
The middle household earns €70,990 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
€70,990 a year before tax puts the median household 18% above Ireland (€60,120). Co. Galway as a whole has a median of €59,640.
Residents born outside Ireland make up 25% in Knocknacarra, more than in 64% 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.
Residents born abroad were most often born outside the EU and UK (9.1%), then in the UK (6.4%). Set beside that, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Nothing unusual on residents with another country’s citizenship: 15%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns.
A lower share of residents who said they are Catholic than 71% of Irish towns, at 66%
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: 76% of Knocknacarra · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Just over three quarters of residents describe themselves as White Irish, against 78% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (13%), Asian or Asian Irish (5.3%) and Other, including mixed (3%).
Married residents 15 and over: 36%, a higher share than 66% 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.
Unpaid carers make up 6.1%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A higher share of adults with a degree or higher than 90% of Irish towns, at 58%
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 27% of adults; primary level or less for 3.5% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Across the comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
19th lowest median age among 41 towns of 15,093 to 22,340
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Castletroy (29), the youngest, and Ballinteer (44.1), the oldest. Nearest to Knocknacarra in age: Carpenterstown (37.4), Old Bawn (38), Tullamore (38.1) and Ballincollig (38.1).
Among its 6 nearest neighbours, 3 are older than Knocknacarra
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
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 Knocknacarra’s residents
What is the population of Knocknacarra?
Knocknacarra had 18,398 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Knocknacarra?
The median age is 38, older than 54% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 11% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Knocknacarra?
54% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (8,998 people), and 4.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Knocknacarra?
76% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 25% were born abroad and 15% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Knocknacarra?
66% are Catholic, 22% have no religion and 13% another religion; 6.1% didn’t say.
Is Knocknacarra good for families?
44% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Knocknacarra are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Knocknacarra?
Median gross household income in Knocknacarra was €70,990 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).