Photo: Thaddeus Breen · CC BY-SA 2.0In Ballylinan, 57% of households are parents with children, more than in 94% of Irish towns
The figure for households in flats is 0.8% in Ballylinan and 12% across Ireland’s towns. Few places have as many residents who said they are Catholic: 83% here, more than in 95% of Irish towns. This Co. Laois town had 1,167 residents in 397 households at the 2022 Census. Shared households of unrelated adults account for 2.3%.
What stands out about the people of Ballylinan
A town of families
46% of households are couples with children and 11% lone parents with children, more than in 94% of Irish towns and the highest share in Co. Laois; 25% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Ballylinan changed by +5% from 2016 to 2022, slower than 67% 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 +8% across Co. Laois’ towns.
In Ballylinan, 9.1% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 83% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Across Ireland’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24; in Ballylinan, 14%. The median age here is 36.7, lower than in 62% of Irish towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Laois 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 85% of Irish towns: 5%
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 students among residents 15 and over is 10%; Ballylinan has 12%. Residents who moved in within the year make up 7.5% across Ireland’s towns.
3 people per household, more than in 85% 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.
With one-person households at 19%, Ballylinan is behind 73% of Irish towns on that count.
Fewer households without a car or van than 95% of Irish towns: 5.2%
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
The share of holiday homes is 1.3%, against 0.2% across Ireland’s towns. To put it in context, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
Half of households earn more than €62,310 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 €62,310 gross, about the Ireland median (€60,120). For Co. Laois as a whole, the figure is €59,520.
Ballylinan ranks below 96% of Irish towns on residents born outside Ireland: 12%
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.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 5.9%, against 15% across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. The most common home language after English is Polish (1.6%); in all 7.2% speak another language, and 1% speak English not well or not at all.
42% of Ballylinan can speak Irish
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
Within Co. Laois, Abbeyleix has the largest share, 1.4%. Ballylinan has fewer daily speakers of Irish outside education than nearly three quarters of Irish towns, at 0.8%.
91% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, a share 98% of Irish towns don’t reach
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: 91% of Ballylinan · Co. Laois’ towns 84% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 12% here and 17% across Ireland’s towns. Behind White Irish, the largest groups are Other White (5.6%), Black or Black Irish (1.6%) and Other, including mixed (1.4%). Across Ireland’s towns, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish.
Ballylinan ranks above 53% of Irish towns on married residents 15 and over: 35%
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: 6%, near enough the figure across Ireland’s towns. As a reference point, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher make up 24% in Ballylinan, less than in 80% 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 5.1% of adults here, while 9.2% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Measured more widely, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Ballylinan sits below 1 of its 4 closest neighbours on median age
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballylinan | 1,167 | — | 36.7 | 9.1% | 57% |
| Athy | 11,035 | 6.5 km | 36.6 | 13% | 48% |
| Stradbally | 1,404 | 10.2 km | 43.4 | 21% | 41% |
| Castledermot | 1,685 | 14.2 km | 36.7 | 13% | 49% |
| Carlow | 27,351 | 14.8 km | 36.3 | 12% | 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 Ballylinan’s residents
What is the population of Ballylinan?
Ballylinan had 1,167 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballylinan?
The median age is 36.7. 30% are under 18 and 9.1% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballylinan?
42% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (455 people), and 0.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballylinan?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 12% were born abroad and 5.9% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballylinan?
83% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 6.1% another religion; 4.3% didn’t say.
Is Ballylinan good for families?
57% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 30% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballylinan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballylinan?
Median gross household income in Ballylinan was €62,310 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).