Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.037% of households are one person living alone, a share 98% of Irish towns don’t reach
Households average 2.4 people, against 2.7 across Ireland’s towns. 8.1% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 74% of Irish towns. Ballybay counted 1,329 residents and 554 households at the 2022 Census. Here, one in ten residents said they have no religion.
A +6% change since 2016: slower than 62% 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. Monaghan’s towns the median is +9%, and across Ireland’s towns +8%.
Younger than 56% of Irish towns: half of Ballybay is under 37.2
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, below 69% of Irish towns. 13% of residents are 65 or over, a lower share than in 59% of Irish towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Monaghan 50.7%, Ireland 51.2%.
6.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, below 65% 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 Ballybay, the professional, managerial and technical classes take in 26% of residents and the semi-skilled and unskilled classes 25%, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of shared households of unrelated adults than 86% of Irish towns: 2.7%
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Monaghan’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
With households of parents with children at 41%, Ballybay is behind nearly three fifths of Irish towns on that count. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.7%.
1% of homes are holiday homes, a share 84% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
Home broadband covers 77% of households, while 20% go without the internet (typical: 7.6%). At 19%, the share of households without a car or van is higher than in 60% of Irish towns. Holiday homes make up 0.2% across Ireland’s towns.
€41,620 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.
At €41,620 a year before tax, the median household income is 31% under that of Ireland (€60,120). In Co. Monaghan overall, the median comes to €50,620.
28% born outside Ireland, more than in 72% 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 40%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 40%
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.
21% speak another language at home, most often Polish (1.1%); 4.4% speak English not well or not at all. At 20%, the share of residents with another country’s citizenship is higher than in 73% of Irish towns. Against that, just over a fifth of residents were born outside Ireland across Ireland’s towns.
0.4% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, below 99% 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
No town in Co. Monaghan beats Monaghan (1.6%). The usual figure: 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns.
Ballybay sits above 87% of Irish towns for residents who said they are Catholic (79%)
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: 75% of Ballybay · Co. Monaghan’s towns 69% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White Irish, are Other White (19%), Black or Black Irish (3%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.4%). Fewer residents who describe themselves as White Irish than in three fifths of Irish towns: 75%. Typically, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns.
Ballybay sits below 68% of Irish towns for married residents 15 and over (32%)
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.
The share of unpaid carers stands at 5.3%. Across the comparison, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Ballybay sits below 89% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (20%)
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 3.7% of adults here, while 14% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). Across Ireland’s towns, the share of adults with a degree or higher is 36%.
Every nearby town is older than Ballybay
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballybay | 1,329 | — | 37.2 | 13% | 41% |
| Castleblayney | 3,926 | 10.4 km | 38 | 16% | 42% |
| Cootehill | 1,856 | 13.4 km | 40.6 | 18% | 37% |
| Monaghan | 7,894 | 13.6 km | 39.8 | 16% | 40% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Monaghan’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Monaghan 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 Ballybay’s residents
What is the population of Ballybay?
Ballybay had 1,329 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 6% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Ballybay?
The median age is 37.2. 27% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Ballybay?
27% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (319 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Ballybay?
75% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 28% were born abroad and 20% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Ballybay?
79% are Catholic, 9.8% have no religion and 11% another religion; 5.2% didn’t say.
Is Ballybay good for families?
41% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 27% of residents are under 18. Schools near Ballybay are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Ballybay?
Median gross household income in Ballybay was €41,620 in 2022, against €50,620 across Co. Monaghan 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).