Photo: Pamela Norrington · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Swinford is over 44.1, older than 97% of Irish towns
Compared with 4.7% across Ireland’s towns, 1.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Swinford had 1,459 residents in 616 households at the 2022 Census. The share of holiday homes stands at 6.4%. At 86%, the share of residents who said they are Catholic is higher than in 99% of Irish towns.
What stands out about the people of Swinford
Older than most towns
Half of Swinford’s residents are under 44.1 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 24% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
About 100 residents (6.8%) give regular unpaid care, more than in 95% of Irish towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Swinford changed by +4% from 2016 to 2022, slower than 72% 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%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of Irish towns: 24%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
40–44 is the most common age band: 8.2% of residents. Across Ireland’s towns, 14% of residents are 65 or over. Few places have so few residents aged 15 to 24: 8.9% here, fewer than in 98% of Irish towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Mayo 51.6%, Ireland 51.2%.
8% of residents 15 and over are students, below 93% 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
In Swinford, the professional, managerial and technical classes take in just over a third of residents and the semi-skilled and unskilled classes 16%, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 7.9%.
40% of households are one person living alone, more than in 99% 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.
The typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 24% of households are one person living alone across Ireland’s towns. Just over a third of households are parents with children.
Below 88% of Irish towns: 5% 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
Households without a car or van: 26% here and 17% across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment across Ireland’s towns.
€41,610 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.
A median gross household income of €41,610 sits 31% below Ireland (€60,120). Co. Mayo’s median household income is €48,670.
A smaller share of residents with another country’s citizenship than 75% of Irish towns: 10%
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.
22% of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns, against 19% in Swinford. Typically, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns.
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
The ability to speak Irish extends to 537 residents (40% of those aged 3 and over). In Co. Mayo, Castlebar has the highest share (1.2%). For daily speakers of Irish outside education, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 1.1%.
No religion: 7.9% of residents, a lower share than 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: 86% of Swinford · Co. Mayo’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White Irish make up 86%, against 78% across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (8.3%), Other, including mixed (2.2%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.7%). By way of comparison, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of married residents 15 and over than 73% of Irish towns: 31%
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.
6.8% of residents give unpaid care; across Ireland’s towns the figure is 5.4%. To put it in context, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Adults with a degree or higher: 25%, a lower share than 76% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Postgraduate qualifications are held by 8.2% of adults here, while 19% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). As a reference point, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Nearby, 2 of 5 towns have older populations than Swinford
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swinford | 1,459 | — | 44.1 | 24% | 34% |
| Charlestown-Bellahy | 1,172 | 10.1 km | 38.7 | 16% | 39% |
| Kiltimagh | 1,232 | 10.8 km | 41.4 | 18% | 37% |
| Foxford | 1,452 | 11.7 km | 45.4 | 25% | 33% |
| Knock | 1,029 | 16.5 km | 49 | 33% | 28% |
| Tubbercurry | 2,307 | 18.4 km | 37.8 | 15% | 41% |
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 Swinford’s residents
What is the population of Swinford?
Swinford had 1,459 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 4% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Swinford?
The median age is 44.1. 23% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Swinford?
40% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (537 people), and 0.7% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Swinford?
86% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 10% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Swinford?
86% are Catholic, 7.9% have no religion and 6.5% another religion; 3.7% didn’t say.
Is Swinford good for families?
34% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 23% of residents are under 18. Schools near Swinford are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Swinford?
Median gross household income in Swinford was €41,610 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).