Photo: DeeEmm · CC BY-SA 2.0Mervue sits below 88% of Irish towns for households of parents with children (29%)
Compared with 17% across Ireland’s towns, 28% of households have no car or van here. Here, 31% of households are one person living alone. 15% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 86% of Irish towns. Mervue’s 1,486 households held 4,126 residents at the 2022 Census.
What stands out about the people of Mervue
Growing faster than most
Mervue went from about 3,500 people in 2016 to 4,126 in 2022, +18%: faster growth than in 86% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A growing town: +18% since 2016, faster than 86% 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 Co. Galway’s towns the median is +7%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
16% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 67% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The median age in Mervue is 37.4, lower than in 54% of Irish towns. Set beside that, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. The largest age band is 20–24: nearly one in ten residents, 1.6 times the share across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Mervue, 37.4. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Galway 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
9.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 74% 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
29% of Mervue’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 19% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
A higher share of shared households of unrelated adults than 79% of Irish towns, at 11%
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.
At 2.5 people, the average household compares with 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns.
A holiday neighbourhood: 0.4% of homes are holiday homes
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
13% of households have no internet access (typical: 7.6%); 85% have broadband. Measured more widely, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment.
Median gross household income: €50,060 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Mervue’s households have a gross income below €50,060 a year, 17% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). In Co. Galway overall, the median comes to €59,640.
26% of residents were born outside Ireland, a share 67% of Irish towns don’t reach
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.
By its share of residents with another country’s citizenship (18%), Mervue is above 67% of Irish towns. For comparison, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born outside the EU and UK (12%) and elsewhere in the EU (5.8%).
2.3% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, more than in 95% 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
No town in Co. Galway beats Knocknacarra (4.5%). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of daily speakers of Irish outside education is 1.1%.
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 72%, a lower share than 70% of Irish towns
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: 72% of Mervue · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who said they are Catholic: 69%, below 62% of Irish towns. The census found that 20% of residents said they have no religion in Mervue. On average, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
30% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 79% 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.
For Mervue, the census puts unpaid carers at 5.4%. 59% of the neighbourhood’s residents 15 and over are single and 30% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 37% in Mervue, more than in 54% 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 Mervue’s adults, 13% went on to postgraduate study and 11% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Typically, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Of 41 towns its size (3,632 to 4,805 people), the 19th youngest
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 Mervue in age: Cashel (37.3), Claremorris (37.4), Kilcoole (37.8) and Rathbane (37.9).
Every nearby town is younger than Mervue
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mervue | 4,126 | — | 37.4 | 16% | 29% |
| Murrough | 2,909 | 1.5 km | 32.8 | 12% | 33% |
| Eyre Square | 6,801 | 1.5 km | 35.1 | 15% | 17% |
| Castlegar | 4,315 | 1.7 km | 33.1 | 10% | 31% |
| Ballybane | 15,082 | 2.1 km | 34.1 | 7.1% | 41% |
| Ballinfoile and Terryland | 5,851 | 2.3 km | 30.4 | 12% | 30% |
| Woodquay and Nuns Island | 4,948 | 2.3 km | 32.1 | 11% | 11% |
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 Mervue’s residents
What is the population of Mervue?
Mervue had 4,126 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 18% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Mervue?
The median age is 37.4, younger than 54% of Irish towns. 17% are under 18 and 16% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Mervue?
37% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,340 people), and 2.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Mervue?
72% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 26% were born abroad and 18% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Mervue?
69% are Catholic, 20% have no religion and 11% another religion; 9.4% didn’t say.
Is Mervue good for families?
29% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 17% of residents are under 18. Schools near Mervue are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Mervue?
Median gross household income in Mervue was €50,060 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).