Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Omeath ranks above 99% of Irish towns on holiday homes: 13%
12% of residents said they have no religion; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 17%. Omeath is home to 778 residents in 292 households, by the 2022 Census. One-person households: 30% of the total. The median age locally is 41.3, higher than in 86% of Irish towns.
Omeath grew +11% from 2016 to 2022, faster than 69% 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.
The median change is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +10% across Co. Louth’s towns.
14% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 76% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 15% in Omeath and 14% across Ireland’s towns. 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 an even split. Median share of women: Co. Louth 51.4%, Ireland 51.2%.
In Omeath, 3.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 95% 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
30% of Omeath’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 14% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who moved in within the year is 7.5%.
Omeath households average 2.6 people, smaller than in 58% of Irish towns
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.
The share of households of parents with children is 41%, against 43% across Ireland’s towns. Omeath has fewer shared households of unrelated adults than nearly two thirds of Irish towns, at 3.8%.
Only 6.8% of households live in a flat or apartment in Omeath
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 share of households without a car or van is 11%, against 17% across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
Half of households earn more than €43,940 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €43,940 a year before tax, the median household income is 27% under that of Ireland (€60,120). Co. Louth comes in at €54,600 at the median.
Above 97% of Irish towns: 46% of 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 55%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 55%
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.
15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns, against 13% in Omeath. Against that, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns. The most common home language after English is Polish (1.8%); in all 12% speak another language, and 1.7% speak English not well or not at all.
Omeath: 1.6% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, above 81% 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
243 residents, 38% of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. For comparison, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Omeath sits above 83% of Irish towns for residents who said they are Catholic (78%)
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: 82% of Omeath · Co. Louth’s towns 86% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
82% of residents describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%). As a reference point, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
33% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 61% 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.
At 5.7%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Only 30% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Omeath
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate: nearly one in ten adults. Adults with a degree or higher: 36% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. Primary level or earlier: 12%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns.
The towns around Omeath are all younger
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omeath | 778 | — | 41.3 | 15% | 41% |
| Carlingford | 1,528 | 7.0 km | 41.1 | 18% | 41% |
| Dundalk | 43,112 | 13.5 km | 36.5 | 14% | 45% |
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 Omeath’s residents
What is the population of Omeath?
Omeath had 778 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 11% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Omeath?
The median age is 41.3. 24% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Omeath?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (243 people), and 1.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Omeath?
82% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 46% were born abroad and 13% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Omeath?
78% are Catholic, 12% have no religion and 11% another religion; 15% didn’t say.
Is Omeath good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 24% of residents are under 18. Schools near Omeath are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Omeath?
Median gross household income in Omeath was €43,940 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).