Photo: Zxcode · CC BY-SA 3.0A higher share of households of parents with children than 95% of Irish towns, at 58%
Against a figure of 0.2% across Ireland’s towns, the share of holiday homes in Coolaney comes in at 3.2%. Compared with other places, residents who said they are Catholic are common here: 78%, more than in 85% of Irish towns. This Co. Sligo town is home to 1,155 residents in 412 households, by the 2022 Census. The census found that 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in the town.
What stands out about the people of Coolaney
A town of families
41% of households are couples with children and 16% lone parents with children, more than in 95% of Irish towns and the highest share in Co. Sligo; 31% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Coolaney’s residents are under 34 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 9.8% are 15 to 24 and 5.9% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
Growing faster than most
Coolaney went from about 980 people in 2016 to 1,155 in 2022, +17%: faster growth than in 85% of Irish towns. Population change ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
A growing town: +17% since 2016, faster than 85% 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.
For comparison, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +10% across Co. Sligo’s towns.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 95% of Irish towns, at 5.9%
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
10–14 is the most common age band: 13% of residents, 1.8 times the share across Ireland’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 9.8% in Coolaney. The median age in the town is 34, lower than in 88% of Irish towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Co. Sligo 52.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
4.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 90% 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
Just over two fifths of Coolaney’s residents are in the professional, managerial and technical classes and 15% in the semi-skilled and unskilled classes, against 34% and 15% across Ireland’s towns. The usual figure: 7.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Ireland’s towns.
Coolaney households average 2.9 people, larger than in 77% 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 Coolaney, nearly a quarter of households are one person living alone.
Few flats: only 1.7% of households in Coolaney live in one
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
The share of households with broadband is 85%; 8.8% have no internet at all (typical: 7.6%). Households without a car or van account for 5.3%. The benchmark for households in flats across Ireland’s towns: 12%.
€59,550 a year: the median household income
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
Half of Coolaney’s households have a gross income above €59,550 a year and half below, close to the median for Ireland (€60,120). For Co. Sligo, the figure is €50,440.
Only 11% of residents are citizens of another country in Coolaney
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.
15% speak a language other than English at home, Polish most of all (6.4%); 1.2% speak English not well or not at all. Few places have so few residents born outside Ireland: 20% here, fewer than in 57% of Irish towns.
Only 0.9% of residents speak Irish daily outside education in Coolaney
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
Sligo leads Co. Sligo with 1.1%. Irish speakers number 445, or 42% of residents aged 3 and over.
A lower share of residents with no religion than 78% of Irish towns, at 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: 82% of Coolaney · Co. Sligo’s towns 81% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
82% of residents describe themselves as White Irish, against 78% across Ireland’s towns. As a yardstick, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns. The largest groups after White Irish are Other White (14%), Black or Black Irish (1.4%) and Asian or Asian Irish (1.4%).
Married residents 15 and over: 30%, a lower share than 78% 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.
More unpaid carers than in 59% of Irish towns: 5.6%. The usual figure: 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
Above 57% of Irish towns: 38% of adults whose education has ended 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
At the top, 12% of adults have a postgraduate qualification; at the other end, 5% finished at primary level or earlier, against 9.7% across Ireland’s towns. Typically, 36% of adults whose education has ended hold a degree or higher across Ireland’s towns.
Every nearby town is older than Coolaney
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coolaney | 1,155 | — | 34 | 5.9% | 58% |
| Collooney | 1,797 | 7.3 km | 34.9 | 9.6% | 48% |
| Ballysadare | 1,747 | 7.5 km | 35.5 | 11% | 41% |
| Ballymote | 1,711 | 10.9 km | 40.2 | 18% | 37% |
| Strandhill | 1,982 | 10.9 km | 41.1 | 14% | 44% |
| Sligo | 20,608 | 13.8 km | 38.5 | 17% | 33% |
| Tubbercurry | 2,307 | 15.8 km | 37.8 | 15% | 41% |
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 Coolaney’s residents
What is the population of Coolaney?
Coolaney had 1,155 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 17% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Coolaney?
The median age is 34. 36% are under 18 and 5.9% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Coolaney?
42% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (445 people), and 0.9% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Coolaney?
82% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 20% were born abroad and 11% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Coolaney?
78% are Catholic, 13% have no religion and 8.8% another religion; 4.5% didn’t say.
Is Coolaney good for families?
58% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 36% of residents are under 18. Schools near Coolaney are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Coolaney?
Median gross household income in Coolaney was €59,550 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).