Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Cliffony is over 46.2, older than 99% of Irish towns
Here 11% of homes are holiday homes, where the figure across Ireland’s towns is 0.2%. Cliffony had 521 residents in 219 households at the 2022 Census. Locally, nine in ten residents describe themselves as White Irish. Higher than in 91% of Irish towns: 32% of households are one person living alone.
From 2016 to 2022, Cliffony outgrew 54% of Irish towns: +8%
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.
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 99% of Irish towns: 6.3%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 40–44 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents. By way of comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. At 23%, the share of residents aged 65 and over is higher than in 96% of Irish towns. In Enniscrone, the oldest of Co. Sligo’s towns by this measure, it is 27%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Sligo 52.2%, Ireland 51.2%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
5.7% of residents 15 and over are students, fewer than in 99% 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
Across Ireland’s towns, 34% of residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes; in Cliffony, 37% and 13%. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are scarce here: 4.2%, fewer than in 94% of Irish towns.
Households here average 2.3 people, below 90% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Sligo’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Across Ireland’s towns, the share of households of parents with children is 43%; Cliffony has 34%. The census found that 5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home locally.
A smaller share of households in flats than 96% of Irish towns: 2.3%
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
85% of households are on broadband; 14% have no internet connection (typical: 7.6%). Households in flats: 12% across Ireland’s towns, for comparison. For Cliffony, the census puts households without a car or van at 8.4%.
€52,330 a year is the median household income here
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
At €52,330 a year before tax, the median household income is 13% under that of Ireland (€60,120). Co. Sligo comes in at €50,440 at the median.
Cliffony ranks below 79% of Irish towns on residents with another country’s citizenship: 9.6%
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.
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in the UK (12%) and elsewhere in the EU (3.5%). As a reference point, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Residents born outside Ireland are rarer here than in 62% of Irish towns.
Only 0.2% of residents speak Irish daily outside education in Cliffony
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 173 residents (38% of those aged 3 and over). For daily speakers of Irish outside education, the comparison across Ireland’s towns is 1.1%.
In Cliffony, 78% of residents said they are Catholic, more than in 85% 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: 90% of Cliffony · Co. Sligo’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White Irish, most residents describe themselves as Other White (8.3%), Other, including mixed (1%) and Asian or Asian Irish (0.8%). The usual figure: 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Where 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns, Cliffony has 16%.
In Cliffony, 41% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 93% 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.
Compared with 5.4% across Ireland’s towns, 7.9% of residents give unpaid care here. As a reference point, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
36% of adults hold a degree or higher
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
Nearly a tenth of Cliffony’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 8.9% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%).
Every neighbour of Cliffony 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliffony | 521 | — | 46.2 | 23% | 34% |
| Kinlough | 1,196 | 10.8 km | 35.2 | 13% | 49% |
| Bundoran | 2,599 | 12.3 km | 38.4 | 16% | 36% |
| Sligo | 20,608 | 17.7 km | 38.5 | 17% | 33% |
| Ballyshannon | 2,246 | 18.8 km | 45 | 25% | 35% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Sligo’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Sligo 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 Cliffony’s residents
What is the population of Cliffony?
Cliffony had 521 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 8% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Cliffony?
The median age is 46.2. 22% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Cliffony?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (173 people), and 0.2% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Cliffony?
90% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 19% were born abroad and 9.6% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Cliffony?
78% are Catholic, 16% have no religion and 5.8% another religion; 7.3% didn’t say.
Is Cliffony good for families?
34% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Cliffony are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Cliffony?
Median gross household income in Cliffony was €52,330 in 2022, against €50,440 across Co. Sligo 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).