Photo: Sarah777 · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 99% of Irish towns: 1.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
With residents with no religion at 8.5%, Newtown is behind 98% of Irish towns on that count. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 9.7%. 55% of households are parents with children, more than in 92% of Irish towns. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 269, in 94 households.
Growth of +9% since 2016 puts Newtown ahead of 59% 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 Ireland’s towns, the typical town changed +8%; across Co. Laois’ towns, +8%.
Half of Newtown is under 35.7, younger than 73% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
No age band is larger than 5–9: just over one in ten residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Newtown has fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than four fifths of Irish towns, at 11%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Laois 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
Newtown sits below 86% of Irish towns for residents who moved in within the year (4.9%)
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
Students among residents 15 and over are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 9.4%. Elsewhere, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
Larger households than 80% of Irish towns: 2.9 people on average
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.
On the census count, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone.
Below 75% of Irish towns: 10% of households have no car or van
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
Holiday homes make up 1%, close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. As a reference point, 17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns.
€51,150 a year: where the middle household sits
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €51,150 a year before tax, the median household income is 15% under that of Ireland (€60,120). Countywide, Co. Laois has a median of €59,520.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 6.7% in Newtown, less than in 95% 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 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.
13% of residents were born outside Ireland, against 22% across Ireland’s towns. The most common home language after English is Polish (5.2%); in all 12% speak another language, and 1.1% speak English not well or not at all. To put it in context, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
Of Newtown’s residents, 30% 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
Speakers of Irish: 75 residents, 30% of those aged 3 and over. Fewer daily speakers of Irish outside education than in 74% of Irish towns: 0.8%.
Residents who said they are Catholic: 87%, a higher share than 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: 88% of Newtown · Co. Laois’ towns 84% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as White Irish at 88%, Newtown is ahead of 87% of Irish towns on that count. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is 71%. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (11%), Irish Traveller (0.8%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.4%).
Unpaid carers make up 8.9% in Newtown, more than in 99% 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.
Census figures put married residents 15 and over at 34% in Newtown. The benchmark for unpaid carers across Ireland’s towns: 5.4%.
Newtown sits below 93% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (17%)
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
3.2% of Newtown’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 12% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Adults with a degree or higher make up 36% across Ireland’s towns.
Newtown is younger than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newtown | 269 | — | 35.7 | 9.7% | 55% |
| Castlecomer | 1,496 | 9.6 km | 40.5 | 19% | 47% |
| Ballylinan | 1,167 | 10.0 km | 36.7 | 9.1% | 57% |
| Carlow | 27,351 | 13.5 km | 36.3 | 12% | 43% |
| Abbeyleix | 1,897 | 16.5 km | 41.4 | 18% | 43% |
| Athy | 11,035 | 16.5 km | 36.6 | 13% | 48% |
| Ballyragget | 1,116 | 16.8 km | 41.9 | 22% | 47% |
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 Newtown’s residents
What is the population of Newtown?
Newtown had 269 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 9% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Newtown?
The median age is 35.7. 29% are under 18 and 9.7% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Newtown?
30% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (75 people), and 0.8% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Newtown?
88% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 13% were born abroad and 6.7% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Newtown?
87% are Catholic, 8.5% have no religion and 5% another religion; 3.3% didn’t say.
Is Newtown good for families?
55% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 29% of residents are under 18. Schools near Newtown are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Newtown?
Median gross household income in Newtown was €51,150 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).