Fewer car-free households than 99% of Irish towns: 3.8%
91% of residents describe themselves as White Irish; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 78%. At the 2022 Census Belcarra was home to 164 people in 58 households. For Belcarra, the census puts households of parents with children at 52%. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 96% of Irish towns.
From 2016 to 2022, 52% of Irish towns grew faster than Belcarra: +7%
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.
Medians for comparison: +8% across Ireland’s towns; +9% across Co. Mayo’s towns.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 11% in Belcarra, less than in 72% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The largest age band is 10–14: 13% of residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns. With a median age of 37.6, Belcarra is younger than 51% of Irish towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Mayo 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 99% of Irish towns: 2.5%
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, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Belcarra, 49% and 18%. Residents who moved in within the year: 7.5% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
Belcarra households average 2.9 people, larger than in 77% of Irish towns
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. Just over a fifth of households are one person living alone.
Below 98% of Irish towns: 1.7% of households live in a flat or apartment
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 with broadband is 94%; 3.9% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). For comparison, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns. The census found that 2.8% of homes are holiday homes in Belcarra.
Half of households earn more than €66,080 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €66,080 sits 10% above Ireland (€60,120). That compares with €48,670 across Co. Mayo.
Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 9.2% in Belcarra, less than in 81% 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 (11%) and elsewhere in the EU (6.1%). The benchmark for residents with another country’s citizenship across Ireland’s towns: 15%. On residents born outside Ireland, Belcarra sits lower than two thirds of Irish towns: 18%.
0.7% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 82% 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
Some 63 people here, just over two in five residents aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. As a reference point, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns. In Co. Mayo, Castlebar has the highest share (1.2%).
84% of residents said they are Catholic, a share 97% 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: 91% of Belcarra · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 13%, below 78% of Irish towns. Set beside that, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of married residents 15 and over than 83% of Irish towns: 38%
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.
Belcarra sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 4.9%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. Against that, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of adults with a degree or higher than 57% of Irish towns: 33%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
At the top, nearly a fifth of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 7.6% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
2 of the 3 nearest towns are older than Belcarra
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belcarra | 164 | — | 37.6 | 11% | 52% |
| Castlebar | 13,054 | 8.1 km | 38.7 | 16% | 38% |
| Kiltimagh | 1,232 | 15.2 km | 41.4 | 18% | 37% |
| Claremorris | 3,857 | 16.4 km | 37.4 | 13% | 38% |
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 Belcarra’s residents
What is the population of Belcarra?
Belcarra had 164 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Belcarra?
The median age is 37.6. 37% are under 18 and 11% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Belcarra?
42% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (63 people), and 0.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Belcarra?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 18% were born abroad and 9.2% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Belcarra?
84% are Catholic, 13% have no religion and 3.2% another religion; 4.9% didn’t say.
Is Belcarra good for families?
52% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 37% of residents are under 18. Schools near Belcarra are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Belcarra?
Median gross household income in Belcarra was €66,080 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).