Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Ardagh is older than 98% of Irish towns: a median age of 44.8
Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish: 94% of the total. Ardagh counted 273 residents and 113 households at the 2022 Census. The share of one-person households is 35%, against 24% across Ireland’s towns.
A +6% change since 2016: slower than 61% 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.
Set beside +8% across Ireland’s towns and +9% across Co. Limerick’s towns.
Above 94% of Irish towns: 22% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
60–64 is the most common age band: 8.8% of residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. On average, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Limerick 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
Below 97% of Irish towns: 3.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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
Among the working population, skilled trades make up 22%, against a typical 11%. On the census count, 8.9% of residents 15 and over are students. Measured more widely, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of households of parents with children than 85% of Irish towns: 31%
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Limerick’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Across Ireland’s towns, households average 2.7 people; in Ardagh, 2.5. For households of parents with children, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 43%.
Ardagh: 2.2% of homes are holiday homes, above 91% 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
The figure for households without a car or van is 15% in Ardagh and 17% across Ireland’s towns. For holiday homes, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 0.2%. Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns.
Median household income: €53,820 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Ardagh’s households have a gross income below €53,820 a year, 10% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Countywide in Co. Limerick, the median is €55,950.
Fewer residents born abroad than 98% of Irish towns: 8.8%
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.
At home, 7.1% use another language, chiefly Polish (1.8%), and 0.7% speak English not well or not at all. Compared with other places, residents with another country’s citizenship are scarce here: 4.8%, fewer than in 98% of Irish towns. Set beside that, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
Daily speakers of Irish outside education make up 0.4% in Ardagh, less 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
The ability to speak Irish extends to 111 residents (42% of those aged 3 and over). Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.1% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Only 4.8% of residents said they have no religion in Ardagh
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: 94% of Ardagh · Co. Limerick’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (5.6%), Irish Traveller (0.4%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.4%). The share of residents with no religion across Ireland’s towns is 17%. Ardagh has more residents who said they are Catholic than 99% of Irish towns, at 91%.
Ardagh sits above 91% of Irish towns for married residents 15 and over (40%)
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 are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 4.8%. As a yardstick, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
21% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 87% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Across Ireland’s towns, 9.7% of adults finished at primary level or earlier; in Ardagh, 18%, and 6.5% hold a postgraduate qualification. For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Every nearby town is younger than Ardagh
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardagh | 273 | — | 44.8 | 22% | 31% |
| Newcastle West | 7,209 | 4.7 km | 37.4 | 15% | 43% |
| Rathkeale | 1,231 | 9.0 km | 41.4 | 18% | 33% |
| Askeaton | 1,236 | 13.4 km | 38.2 | 18% | 43% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Limerick’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Limerick’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 Ardagh’s residents
What is the population of Ardagh?
Ardagh had 273 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ardagh?
The median age is 44.8. 22% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ardagh?
42% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (111 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ardagh?
94% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 8.8% were born abroad and 4.8% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ardagh?
91% are Catholic, 4.8% have no religion and 4% another religion; 0% didn’t say.
Is Ardagh good for families?
31% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ardagh are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ardagh?
Median gross household income in Ardagh was €53,820 in 2022, against €55,950 across Co. Limerick 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).