40% of households are one person living alone, a share 99% of Irish towns don’t reach
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 9%, against 12% across Ireland’s towns. Few places have so few households of parents with children: 37% here, fewer than in three quarters of Irish towns. At the 2022 Census, 715 people lived in Elphin, in 301 households. Locally, 79% of residents said they are Catholic.
Elphin grew +17% from 2016 to 2022, faster than 84% 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.
Medians for comparison: +8% across Ireland’s towns; +12% across Co. Roscommon’s towns.
Older than 80% of Irish towns: half of Elphin is over 40.4
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
In Elphin, 17% of residents are 65 or over, beside 14% across Ireland’s towns. More residents are 5–9 than any other five-year age: 8.5% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Ireland’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Roscommon 50.1%, Ireland 51.2%.
Elphin sits below 84% of Irish towns for students among residents 15 and over (8.6%)
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
Just over a quarter of Elphin’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 16% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 7.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Households here average 2.4 people, below 86% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Roscommon’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
On shared households of unrelated adults, Elphin sits higher than 57% of Irish towns: 5.3%.
Holiday homes make up 2% in Elphin, more than in 91% of Irish towns
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
Connected households: 78% on broadband; 19% offline (typical: 7.6%). Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of Irish towns. Typically, 0.2% of homes are holiday homes across Ireland’s towns. On the census count, 17% of households have no car or van.
Median household income: €37,720 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Elphin’s households have a gross income below €37,720 a year, 37% under the median for Ireland (€60,120). Co. Roscommon comes in at €51,010 at the median.
Elphin sits above 58% of Irish towns for residents with another country’s citizenship (16%)
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 (11%) and outside the EU and UK (6.1%). On residents born outside Ireland, Elphin sits higher than 54% of Irish towns: 23%. Residents with another country’s citizenship make up 15% across Ireland’s towns.
1.6% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, a share 81% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
Irish speakers number 209, or a third of residents aged 3 and over. For daily speakers of Irish outside education, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 1.1%.
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 79% of Irish towns: 13%
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: 79% of Elphin · Co. Roscommon’s towns 72% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White Irish, the biggest groups are Other White (15%), Other, including mixed (2.3%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.9%). Elphin has more residents who describe themselves as White Irish than 53% of Irish towns, at 79%. Residents with no religion make up 17% across Ireland’s towns.
Half of adults have never married
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.
On unpaid carers, 4.6% here is much the same as across Ireland’s towns. Few places have so few married residents 15 and over: 34% here, fewer than in 57% of Irish towns.
22% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher, below 85% of Irish towns
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
7.2% of Elphin’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 11% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Elsewhere, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
A younger town than 1 of the 2 around it: Elphin
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elphin | 715 | — | 40.4 | 17% | 37% |
| Carrick-On-Shannon | 4,743 | 13.5 km | 37.3 | 14% | 38% |
| Boyle | 2,915 | 15.6 km | 43.8 | 25% | 37% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Roscommon’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Roscommon 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 Elphin’s residents
What is the population of Elphin?
Elphin had 715 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 17% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Elphin?
The median age is 40.4. 26% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Elphin?
33% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (209 people), and 1.6% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Elphin?
79% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 23% were born abroad and 16% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Elphin?
79% are Catholic, 13% have no religion and 8.4% another religion; 9.7% didn’t say.
Is Elphin good for families?
37% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 26% of residents are under 18. Schools near Elphin are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Elphin?
Median gross household income in Elphin was €37,720 in 2022, against €51,010 across Co. Roscommon 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).