Photo: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0Shared households of unrelated adults make up 1.5% in Clara, less than in 99% of Irish towns
Here 8.3% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 17%. The 2022 Census put Clara’s population at 3,403, in 1,233 households. On the census count, 1.2% of households live in a flat or apartment. Households of parents with children are more common here than in 62% of Irish towns.
Since 2016, Clara has changed by +7%, slower than 54% 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.
The median across Ireland’s towns is +8%, and across Co. Offaly’s towns +7%.
Clara sits above 69% of Irish towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (13%)
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
Set against 14% across Ireland’s towns, 15% of residents are 65 or over in Clara. Still, with a median age of 37.6, Clara is younger than just over half of Irish towns.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Clara, 37.6. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Offaly 50.9%, Ireland 51.2%.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 94% of Irish towns, at 4.1%
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
There is little gap on students among residents 15 and over: 9.8%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
Larger households than 65% of Irish towns: 2.8 people on average
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Offaly’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
On the census count, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone.
A holiday town: 0.6% of homes are holiday 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
At home, 84% have broadband, while 13% have no internet access (typical: 7.6%). Locally, 17% of households have no car or van. The wider picture: 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns.
The middle household earns €47,070 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Gross household income has a median of €47,070 a year here, 22% below Ireland (€60,120). Co. Offaly comes in at €56,050 at the median.
10% of residents were born outside Ireland, fewer than in 97% 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 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
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 (4.1%) and outside the EU and UK (2.4%). Compared with other places, residents with another country’s citizenship are scarce here: 6.4%, fewer than in 96% of Irish towns. Across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents born outside Ireland is 22%.
Fewer daily speakers of Irish outside education than 99% of Irish towns: 0.4%
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
1,005 residents, nearly a third of those aged 3 and over, can speak Irish. In Co. Offaly, Ferbane has the highest share (1%). Daily speakers of Irish outside education: 1.1% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison.
In Clara, 91% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, more than in 97% 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: 91% of Clara · Co. Offaly’s towns 87% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White Irish: Other White (5.1%), Other, including mixed (1.5%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.2%). Compared with other places, residents who said they are Catholic are common here: 86%, more than in 99% of Irish towns. As a reference point, 78% of residents describe themselves as White Irish across Ireland’s towns.
Clara: 35% of residents 15 and over are married, above 55% 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.
Clara sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 5.9%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Clara sits below 91% of Irish towns for adults with a degree or higher (19%)
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 5.3% of adults here, while 17% stopped at primary level or earlier (9.7% across Ireland’s towns). The share of adults with a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns is 36%.
Of 41 towns its size (2,917 to 3,970 people), the 19th oldest
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
Ages run from 31.8 in Taylor's Hill to 43.5 in Bantry. Nearest to Clara in age: Claremorris (37.4), Ballinrobe (37.6), Castleblayney (38) and Farranree (38.1).
A younger town than 3 of the 4 around it: Clara
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Offaly’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Offaly 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 Clara’s residents
What is the population of Clara?
Clara had 3,403 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 7% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Clara?
The median age is 37.6, younger than 51% of Irish towns. 26% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Clara?
32% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (1,005 people), and 0.4% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Clara?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 10% were born abroad and 6.4% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Clara?
86% are Catholic, 8.3% have no religion and 5.3% another religion; 3.9% didn’t say.
Is Clara good for families?
45% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Clara are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Clara?
Median gross household income in Clara was €47,070 in 2022, against €56,050 across Co. Offaly 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).