Photo: Oliver Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0Ballycastle is older than 99% of Irish towns: a median age of 56.2
The share of one-person households is 45%, against 24% across Ireland’s towns. Residents with no religion account for 5.2%. Few places have so few households of parents with children: 26% here, fewer than in 89% of Irish towns. Ballycastle had 220 residents in 114 households at the 2022 Census.
Since 2016, Ballycastle has changed by −5%, slower than 99% 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. Mayo’s towns, by more than +9%.
36% of Ballycastle is 65 or over, a higher share than 99% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
9.1% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (Ireland’s towns: 12%). The wider picture: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Mayo 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Ballycastle, 4.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 94% 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
Workers here lean to skilled trades: 21%, against a typical 11%. Against that, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns. Students among residents 15 and over account for 9.6%.
Only 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Ballycastle
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Mayo’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
The typical household size is 1.9 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults make up 4.7% across Ireland’s towns.
More holiday homes than 99% of Irish towns: 19% 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
Most homes are connected: 66% have broadband, and 30% have no internet (typical: 7.6%). For comparison, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns. Across Ballycastle, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van.
Household income at the median: €34,530 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
The median household earns €34,530 gross, 43% less than the Ireland median (€60,120). Countywide in Co. Mayo, the median is €48,670.
In Ballycastle, 4.7% of residents are citizens of another country, fewer than in 98% 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 35%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 35%
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.
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the UK (15%) and in Poland (0.5%). Compared with other places, residents born outside Ireland are scarce here: 16%, fewer than in 82% of Irish towns.
Irish speakers make up 36% of Ballycastle
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
Daily speakers of Irish outside education are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. No town in Co. Mayo beats Castlebar (1.2%).
94% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, more than in 99% 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: 94% of Ballycastle · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns, against 86% in Ballycastle. Elsewhere, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
In Ballycastle, 8.6% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 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.
Compared with other places, married residents 15 and over are common here: 35%, more than in 55% of Irish towns. Set beside that, 5.4% of residents give unpaid care across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher: 17%, a lower share than 94% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
2.5% of Ballycastle’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 22% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). For comparison, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Mayo’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Mayo’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 Ballycastle’s residents
What is the population of Ballycastle?
Ballycastle had 220 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% fewer than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballycastle?
The median age is 56.2. 13% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballycastle?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (74 people), and 0% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballycastle?
94% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 16% were born abroad and 4.7% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballycastle?
86% are Catholic, 5.2% have no religion and 9% another religion; 4.1% didn’t say.
Is Ballycastle good for families?
26% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 13% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballycastle are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballycastle?
Median gross household income in Ballycastle was €34,530 in 2022, against €48,670 across Co. Mayo 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).