Photo: Sean an Scuab · CC BY-SA 3.0A median age of 46.1: Foynes is older than 99% of Irish towns
Compared with 17% across Ireland’s towns, 9.1% of residents said they have no religion here. Foynes counted 512 residents and 204 households at the 2022 Census. Here, 1.5% of households live in a flat or apartment. 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 95% of Irish towns.
−1% since 2016: slower than 94% 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, half of towns changed by more than +8%; across Co. Limerick’s towns, by more than +9%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 23% in Foynes, more than in 96% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Foynes sits close to the norm on residents aged 15 to 24: 12%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. For comparison, 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Limerick 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 4.7%, a lower share than 88% of Irish towns
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, just over a third of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Foynes, 30% and 22%. On average, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
Smaller households than 86% of Irish towns: 2.4 people on average
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.
Households of parents with children: 37%, below nearly three quarters of Irish towns. Higher than in nearly four fifths of Irish towns: 29% of households are one person living alone.
Holiday homes make up 3% in Foynes, more than in 93% 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%; Foynes has 11%. Holiday homes make up 0.2% across Ireland’s towns.
Median household income: €50,100 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of households are below €50,100 a year before tax: 17% under the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Limerick as a whole has a median of €55,950.
Only 11% of Foynes’s residents were born outside Ireland
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.
4.8% are citizens of another country (Ireland’s towns 15%). Polish leads the languages spoken at home (3.5%), among the 4.6% who speak another language there; 0.8% speak English not well or not at all. Against that, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 99% of Irish towns: 0.4%
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
Farranshone leads Co. Limerick with 1.9%. On average, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
A higher White Irish share than 99% of Irish towns: 94% of residents
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 Foynes · Co. Limerick’s towns 82% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is 71%; Foynes has 87%. Measured more widely, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
Unpaid carers: 8.8%, a higher share than 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.
Set against 34% across Ireland’s towns, 38% of residents 15 and over are married in Foynes. To put it in context, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
23% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, fewer than in 83% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Of Foynes’s adults, 7.1% went on to postgraduate study and 13% left at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Set beside that, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
No nearby town is as old as Foynes
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foynes | 512 | — | 46.1 | 23% | 37% |
| Askeaton | 1,236 | 8.5 km | 38.2 | 18% | 43% |
| Rathkeale | 1,231 | 15.0 km | 41.4 | 18% | 33% |
| Newcastle West | 7,209 | 18.0 km | 37.4 | 15% | 43% |
| Shannon | 10,256 | 18.8 km | 38.5 | 15% | 44% |
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 Foynes’s residents
What is the population of Foynes?
Foynes had 512 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Foynes?
The median age is 46.1. 19% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Foynes?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (186 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Foynes?
94% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 11% were born abroad and 4.8% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Foynes?
87% are Catholic, 9.1% have no religion and 3.8% another religion; 1.8% didn’t say.
Is Foynes good for families?
37% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 19% of residents are under 18. Schools near Foynes are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Foynes?
Median gross household income in Foynes was €50,100 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).