Photo: Noelcarroll · CC BY-SA 4.0Newcastle: 28% of residents are 65 or over, above 99% of Irish towns
Households of parents with children make up 24%, against 43% across Ireland’s towns. 32% of households have no car or van, a higher share than in 86% of Irish towns. Newcastle had 4,032 residents in 1,368 households at the 2022 Census. Shared households of unrelated adults: just over a fifth of the total.
What stands out about the people of Newcastle
A student neighbourhood
16% of residents aged 15 and over are students, more than in 93% of Irish towns; Ireland’s towns 10%. 19% of residents are 15 to 24. Social class & newcomers ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Newcastle’s residents are under 42.5 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 28% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Newcastle’s population moved +6% on 2016, less than in 60% 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 change is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +7% across Co. Galway’s towns.
Older than 92% of Irish towns: half of Newcastle is over 42.5
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 20–24: 15% of residents, 2.6 times the share across Ireland’s towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Newcastle, 42.5. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Newcastle ranks above 93% of Irish towns on students among residents 15 and over: 16%
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 12%, against 7.5% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 10% of residents 15 and over are students.
Households here average 2.5 people, below 71% 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.
By its share of one-person households (27%), Newcastle is above 64% of Irish towns.
Fewer flats than 74% of Irish towns: 8% of households
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
84% have broadband at home and 14% no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Holiday homes are more common here than in 65% of Irish towns. Across Ireland’s towns, households in flats come to 12%.
Median gross household income: €41,680 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €41,680 gross, 31% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). For Co. Galway as a whole, the figure is €59,640.
Newcastle sits below 67% of Irish towns for residents born outside Ireland (19%)
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 most common home language after English is French (0.9%); in all 9.1% speak another language, and 0.6% speak English not well or not at all. As a yardstick, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. 14% of residents are citizens of another country, against 15% across Ireland’s towns.
More daily speakers of Irish outside education than 95% of Irish towns: 2.3%
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%. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of daily speakers of Irish outside education is 1.1%.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 76% of Irish towns, at 23%
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: 84% of Newcastle · Co. Galway’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (5.8%), Asian or Asian Irish (5%) and Irish Traveller (2.6%). Higher than in nearly three quarters of Irish towns: 84% of residents describe themselves as White Irish. By way of comparison, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. In Newcastle, 69% of residents said they are Catholic, beside 71% across Ireland’s towns.
30% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 81% 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.
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 4.6%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher: 35%, a lower share than 52% of Irish towns
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 14% of adults; primary level or less for 20% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Typically, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
The 2nd oldest of 41 towns of 3,454 to 4,621 people
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Dangan is the youngest (27.5); Montenotte the oldest (46.5). Nearest to Newcastle in age: Cleaboy (42.1), Gurranebraher (42.4) and Montenotte (46.5).
Newcastle is older than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census neighbourhood.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 4,032 | — | 42.5 | 28% | 24% |
| Dangan | 4,621 | 0.7 km | 27.5 | 13% | 27% |
| Taylor's Hill | 3,141 | 0.9 km | 31.8 | 14% | 36% |
| Rahoon | 3,486 | 1.1 km | 35.2 | 11% | 39% |
| Woodquay and Nuns Island | 4,948 | 1.3 km | 32.1 | 11% | 11% |
| Claddagh | 2,755 | 1.6 km | 38.9 | 20% | 23% |
| Salthill | 5,445 | 1.8 km | 40.4 | 20% | 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 Newcastle’s residents
What is the population of Newcastle?
Newcastle had 4,032 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its neighbourhood, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Newcastle?
The median age is 42.5, older than 92% of Irish towns. 11% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Newcastle?
43% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,348 people), and 2.3% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Newcastle?
84% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 14% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Newcastle?
69% are Catholic, 23% have no religion and 8.1% another religion; 21% didn’t say.
Is Newcastle good for families?
24% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 11% of residents are under 18. Schools near Newcastle are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Newcastle?
Median gross household income in Newcastle was €41,680 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).