Photo: Sarah777 · Public domainHalf of Mountbellew is over 43, older than 94% of Irish towns
The share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish is 90%, against 78% across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 3.5% of homes are holiday homes. 2.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a lower share than in 93% of Irish towns. Census day 2022: 774 residents and 275 households in Mountbellew.
From 2016 to 2022, 78% of Irish towns grew faster than Mountbellew: +3%
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.
Elsewhere, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +7% across Co. Galway’s towns.
20% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 90% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 40–44: 8.3% of residents. Elsewhere, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 9.8%, fewer than in 96% of Irish towns. In Newcastle, the oldest of Co. Galway’s towns by this measure, it is 28%.
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%.
Students among residents 15 and over: 9.2%, a lower share than 75% 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
Residents who moved in within the year make up 8.5%, against 7.5% across Ireland’s towns. By way of comparison, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
More households of parents with children than 78% of Irish towns: 50%
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.
Across Ireland’s towns, households average 2.7 people; in Mountbellew, 2.7. The usual figure: 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns. In Mountbellew, just over a quarter of households are one person living alone.
Mountbellew sits below 96% of Irish towns for households in flats (2.5%)
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
7.7% of households have no internet access (typical: 7.6%); 88% have broadband. Households in flats: 12% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. On the census count, 8.9% of households have no car or van.
€65,220 a year is the median household income here
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €65,220 a year before tax, the median household income is 8% above that of Ireland (€60,120). Co. Galway’s median household income is €59,640.
12% of residents were born outside Ireland, below 94% 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 in the UK (5.9%), then elsewhere in the EU (1.8%). To put it in context, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Compared with other places, residents with another country’s citizenship are scarce here: 6.5%, fewer than in 96% of Irish towns.
0.4% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 99% 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
Knocknacarra leads Co. Galway with 4.5%. Against that, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
In Mountbellew, 5.8% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 99% 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: 90% of Mountbellew · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (6.9%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.9%) and Irish Traveller (1.1%). At 89%, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is higher than in 99% of Irish towns. Across Ireland’s towns, residents with no religion come to 17%.
Mountbellew ranks above 96% of Irish towns on married residents 15 and over: 43%
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.
Against a figure of 5.4% across Ireland’s towns, the share of unpaid carers in Mountbellew comes in at 7.9%. By way of comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 40% in Mountbellew, more than in 59% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate qualifications are held by 14% of adults here, while 11% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). For comparison, 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 Mountbellew’s residents
What is the population of Mountbellew?
Mountbellew had 774 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 3% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Mountbellew?
The median age is 43. 22% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Mountbellew?
48% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (343 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Mountbellew?
90% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 12% were born abroad and 6.5% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Mountbellew?
89% are Catholic, 5.8% have no religion and 5.2% another religion; 3.5% didn’t say.
Is Mountbellew good for families?
50% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Mountbellew are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Mountbellew?
Median gross household income in Mountbellew was €65,220 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).