Photo: Kieran Campbell · CC BY-SA 2.0Shared households of unrelated adults: 2%, a lower share than 95% of Irish towns
The share of households in flats trails 85% of Irish towns: 5.5%. 10% of residents said they have no religion, a lower share than in 92% of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census, 2,143 people lived in Dunleer, in 746 households. Residents aged 65 and over: just over a tenth of the total.
What stands out about the people of Dunleer
A town of families
35% of households are couples with children and 18% lone parents with children, more than in 86% of Irish towns; 24% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A +15% change since 2016: Dunleer grew faster than 81% 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 Co. Louth’s towns the median is +10%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
A median age of 36.3: Dunleer is younger than 68% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
40–44 is the most common age band: one in ten residents. In Castlebellingham-Kilsaran, the oldest of Co. Louth’s towns by this measure, it is 19%.
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%.
In Dunleer, 5.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 85% 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
Just over a quarter of Dunleer’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 24% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Set beside that, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
Above 86% of Irish towns: 53% 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.
18% of households are one person living alone, against 24% across Ireland’s towns. For households of parents with children, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 43%. Households here average 2.9 people each.
More holiday homes than 76% of Irish towns: 0.7% of homes
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
Internet at home: broadband for 86%, nothing for 12% (typical: 7.6%). Typically, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns. Locally, 16% of households have no car or van.
Household income at the median: €50,990 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Before tax, the middle household here has €50,990 a year, 15% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Co. Louth’s median household income is €54,600.
15% born outside Ireland, fewer than in 83% 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.
By its share of residents with another country’s citizenship (9.5%), Dunleer is below nearly four fifths of Irish towns. To put it in context, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the UK (5%) and outside the EU and UK (3.8%).
A smaller share of daily speakers of Irish outside education than 96% of Irish towns: 0.5%
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. Louth, Tullyallen has the largest share, 1.2%. The usual figure: 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
81% of residents said they are Catholic, a share 92% 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: 85% of Dunleer · Co. Louth’s towns 86% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (8.8%), Black or Black Irish (3%) and Other, including mixed (1.3%). Across Ireland’s towns, residents who said they are Catholic come to 71%. 85% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, more than in 79% of Irish towns.
A lower share of married residents 15 and over than 67% of Irish towns, at 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.
Unpaid carers are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns: 4.9%. For comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher: 23%, a lower share than 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 Dunleer, 16%, and 6.3% hold a postgraduate qualification. Adults with a degree or higher: 36% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
3 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Dunleer
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunleer | 2,143 | — | 36.3 | 11% | 53% |
| Castlebellingham-Kilsaran | 1,232 | 7.5 km | 41.4 | 19% | 41% |
| Ardee | 5,478 | 9.6 km | 37.7 | 14% | 46% |
| Tullyallen | 1,697 | 10.0 km | 33.2 | 6.1% | 67% |
| Clogherhead | 2,275 | 10.8 km | 36.6 | 8.7% | 56% |
| Dromiskin | 1,292 | 10.8 km | 36.1 | 10% | 59% |
| Termonfeckin | 1,983 | 11.1 km | 36 | 13% | 57% |
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 Dunleer’s residents
What is the population of Dunleer?
Dunleer had 2,143 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 15% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Dunleer?
The median age is 36.3. 29% are under 18 and 11% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Dunleer?
30% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (592 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Dunleer?
85% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 9.5% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Dunleer?
81% are Catholic, 10% have no religion and 8.7% another religion; 4.7% didn’t say.
Is Dunleer good for families?
53% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 29% of residents are under 18. Schools near Dunleer are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Dunleer?
Median gross household income in Dunleer was €50,990 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).