Photo: Jonathan Billinger · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of residents who said they are Catholic than 88% of Irish towns, at 80%
Set against 12% across Ireland’s towns, 8.4% of households live in a flat or apartment in Ardee. Here, 2.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Few places have as many one-person households: 27% here, more than in 63% of Irish towns. This Co. Louth town had 5,478 residents in 2,034 households at the 2022 Census.
From 2016 to 2022, Ardee outgrew 71% of Irish towns: +11%
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. Louth’s towns, by more than +10%.
Ardee is older than 51% of Irish towns: a median age of 37.7
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
There is little gap on residents aged 15 to 24: 12%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. 40–44 is the most common age band: 7.8% of residents.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Ardee, 37.7. The typical town is 37.6.
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. Louth 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
30% of residents belong to the professional, managerial and technical classes
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
Skilled trades stand out among workers: 16%, against a typical 11%. At 9.6%, the share of students among residents 15 and over is lower than in 67% of Irish towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 7.9%.
A family town: 46% of households are parents with children
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Louth’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Households in Ardee hold 2.6 people on average (Ireland’s towns: 2.7). By way of comparison, 43% of households are parents with children across Ireland’s towns.
Ardee sits above 55% of Irish towns for households without a car or van (19%)
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
Ardee sits close to the norm on holiday homes: 0.1%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. The comparison figure for households without a car or van is 17% across Ireland’s towns.
Household income at the median: €47,320 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 €47,320 a year before tax: 21% under the Ireland median (€60,120). In Co. Louth overall, the median comes to €54,600.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 11% in Ardee, less than in 73% 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.
Polish leads the languages spoken at home (2.3%), among the 15% who speak another language there; 2.1% speak English not well or not at all. At 18%, the share of residents born outside Ireland is lower than in 69% of Irish towns.
Only 0.6% of residents speak Irish daily outside education in Ardee
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
1,370 residents, 28% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. Daily speakers of Irish outside education make up 1.1% across Ireland’s towns. The highest share in Co. Louth belongs to Tullyallen (1.2%).
12% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 86% 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: 83% of Ardee · Co. Louth’s towns 86% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 78% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish in Ardee comes in at 83%. Typically, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (9.6%), Asian or Asian Irish (2.6%) and Black or Black Irish (2.4%).
A smaller share of married residents 15 and over than 71% of Irish towns: 32%
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.
The share of unpaid carers stands at 5.6%. 57% of Ardee’s residents 15 and over are single and 32% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
23% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 82% 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 Ardee, 16%, and 5.8% hold a postgraduate qualification. For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Ranked by age, 20th oldest of 41 towns this size
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
At the ends of the range sit Gillabbey (25.6), the youngest, and Sutton (45.4), the oldest. Nearest to Ardee in age: Blessington (37.6), Mountmellick (37.6), Roscrea (37.8) and Ballybofey-Stranorlar (39.3).
Ardee sits below 2 of its 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardee | 5,478 | — | 37.7 | 14% | 46% |
| Dunleer | 2,143 | 9.6 km | 36.3 | 11% | 53% |
| Castlebellingham-Kilsaran | 1,232 | 10.5 km | 41.4 | 19% | 41% |
| Dromiskin | 1,292 | 11.9 km | 36.1 | 10% | 59% |
| Tullyallen | 1,697 | 15.0 km | 33.2 | 6.1% | 67% |
| Slane | 1,445 | 16.1 km | 39.2 | 13% | 52% |
| Carrickmacross | 5,745 | 17.9 km | 36.9 | 13% | 42% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Louth’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Louth 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 Ardee’s residents
What is the population of Ardee?
Ardee had 5,478 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 11% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ardee?
The median age is 37.7, older than 51% of Irish towns. 25% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ardee?
28% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,370 people), and 0.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ardee?
83% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 18% were born abroad and 11% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ardee?
80% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 8.6% another religion; 6% didn’t say.
Is Ardee good for families?
46% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ardee are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ardee?
Median gross household income in Ardee was €47,320 in 2022, against €54,600 across Co. Louth 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).