Photo: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 43.3: Shrule is older than 94% of Irish towns
17% of households have no car or van across Ireland’s towns, against 5.4% in Shrule. On one-person households, Shrule sits lower than just over two thirds of Irish towns: 20%. At the 2022 Census Shrule was home to 362 people in 137 households. In Shrule, 47% of households are parents with children.
+5% since 2016: slower than 70% 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. Mayo’s towns the median is +9%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 76% of Irish towns: 17%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 13% here and 12% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 14% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Mayo 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
13% of residents 15 and over are students, more than in 83% 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
Among the working population, skilled trades make up 18%, against a typical 11%. 5.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a lower share than in 78% of Irish towns. Set beside that, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
3.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, below 70% 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.
Each household has 2.7 people on average. Against that, 4.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Ireland’s towns.
Only 3.6% of households live in a flat or apartment in Shrule
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
Holiday homes: 1.8% here and 0.2% across Ireland’s towns. Across the comparison, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
€57,640 a year: where the middle household sits
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Shrule’s households have a gross income above €57,640 a year and half below, close to the median for Ireland (€60,120). Across Co. Mayo the median is €48,670.
In Shrule, 13% of residents are citizens of another country, fewer than in 60% 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.
The largest groups were born in the UK (8.9%) and outside the EU and UK (6.4%). On residents born outside Ireland, Shrule sits lower than 57% of Irish towns: 20%. As a yardstick, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
Shrule: 1.5% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, above 77% 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
The ability to speak Irish extends to 150 residents (46% of those aged 3 and over). Across the comparison, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Only 15% of residents said they have no religion in Shrule
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: 80% of Shrule · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White Irish come Other White (14%), Black or Black Irish (3.9%) and Other, including mixed (1.8%). For comparison, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. Few places have as many residents who said they are Catholic: 73% here, more than in 63% of Irish towns. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish make up 80%, against 78% across Ireland’s towns.
Married residents 15 and over make up 43% in Shrule, more than in 96% 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.
Shrule sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 5.8%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Only 35% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher in Shrule
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Primary level or earlier: 7.6%, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher. Postgraduate: 14% of adults.
Every neighbour of Shrule has a younger population
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shrule | 362 | — | 43.3 | 17% | 47% |
| Headford | 1,235 | 6.3 km | 38.2 | 13% | 44% |
| Ballinrobe | 3,148 | 13.9 km | 37.6 | 13% | 43% |
| Tuam | 9,647 | 15.8 km | 38.1 | 13% | 41% |
| Oughterard | 1,846 | 18.7 km | 42 | 17% | 46% |
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 Shrule’s residents
What is the population of Shrule?
Shrule had 362 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Shrule?
The median age is 43.3. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Shrule?
46% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (150 people), and 1.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Shrule?
80% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 20% were born abroad and 13% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Shrule?
73% are Catholic, 15% have no religion and 12% another religion; 5.8% didn’t say.
Is Shrule good for families?
47% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 25% of residents are under 18. Schools near Shrule are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Shrule?
Median gross household income in Shrule was €57,640 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).