Photo: Sarah777 at English Wikipedia · Public domainAbbeyleix is older than 87% of Irish towns: a median age of 41.4
Where 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns, Abbeyleix has 2.1%. At the 2022 Census, 1,897 people lived here, in 754 households. On the census count, 30% of households are one person living alone. Fewer households in flats than in 77% of Irish towns: 7.4%.
What stands out about the people of Abbeyleix
Older than most towns
Half of Abbeyleix’s residents are under 41.4 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 18% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Slower growth than 52% of Irish towns: Abbeyleix changed by +7% since 2016
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.
Set beside +8% across Ireland’s towns and +8% across Co. Laois’ towns.
18% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 83% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 10–14, with nearly one in ten residents. Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 66% of Irish towns. In Stradbally, the oldest of Co. Laois’ towns by this measure, it is 21%.
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. Laois 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
Abbeyleix sits below 75% of Irish towns for residents who moved in within the year (5.8%)
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
37% of Abbeyleix’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 17% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Across the comparison, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
2.5 people per household, fewer than in 77% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Laois’ towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
43% of households are parents with children, a higher share than in 51% of Irish towns.
Holiday homes make up 0.8% in Abbeyleix, more than in 79% 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
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 17%; Abbeyleix has 16%. For holiday homes, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 0.2%.
Before tax, the median household income is €46,560 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Gross household income has a median of €46,560 a year here, 23% below Ireland (€60,120). In Co. Laois overall, the median comes to €59,520.
A smaller share of residents born outside Ireland than 83% of Irish towns: 15%
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 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
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 (8.8%), Abbeyleix is below 83% of Irish towns. Residents born outside Ireland: 22% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. At home, 10% use another language, chiefly Polish (1.1%), and 1% speak English not well or not at all.
Able to speak Irish: 41% in Abbeyleix
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
Daily speakers of Irish outside education are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 1.4%. Speakers of Irish: 712 residents, 41% of those aged 3 and over. It is the highest share of Co. Laois’ 8 towns of 2,500+.
More residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 87% of Irish towns: 87%
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: 87% of Abbeyleix · Co. Laois’ towns 84% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White Irish are Other White (7.8%), Black or Black Irish (1.8%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.7%). Few places have as many residents who said they are Catholic: 76% here, more than in 76% of Irish towns. Set beside that, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns. 15% of residents said they have no religion (Ireland’s towns: 17%).
Married residents 15 and over make up 35% in Abbeyleix, more than in 53% 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%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
32% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 57% 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 10% of adults here, while 11% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). The benchmark for adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns: 36%.
Median age: 2 of the 6 towns around Abbeyleix are older
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeyleix | 1,897 | — | 41.4 | 18% | 43% |
| Mountrath | 2,070 | 12.8 km | 35.8 | 13% | 47% |
| Ballyragget | 1,116 | 14.2 km | 41.9 | 22% | 47% |
| Portlaoise | 23,494 | 14.3 km | 35.9 | 9.5% | 50% |
| Castlecomer | 1,496 | 15.6 km | 40.5 | 19% | 47% |
| Stradbally | 1,404 | 17.6 km | 43.4 | 21% | 41% |
| Rathdowney | 1,368 | 17.9 km | 37.4 | 17% | 43% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Laois’ towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Laois has fewer than five towns of 2,500 or more, so its figure is the median of its towns of 1,000 or more; the national figure is the median of 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 Abbeyleix’s residents
What is the population of Abbeyleix?
Abbeyleix had 1,897 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Abbeyleix?
The median age is 41.4. 23% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Abbeyleix?
41% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (712 people), and 1.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Abbeyleix?
87% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 8.8% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Abbeyleix?
76% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 9.4% another religion; 4.3% didn’t say.
Is Abbeyleix good for families?
43% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Abbeyleix are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Abbeyleix?
Median gross household income in Abbeyleix was €46,560 in 2022, against €59,520 across Co. Laois 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).