Photo: Sarah777 · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 94% of Irish towns: half of Newcastle is over 43.3
Households in flats make up 2.3%, against 12% across Ireland’s towns. Here, 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Residents who describe themselves as White Irish are more common here than in 97% of Irish towns. Newcastle counted 1,010 residents and 348 households at the 2022 Census.
What stands out about the people of Newcastle
Older than most towns
Half of Newcastle’s residents are under 43.3 and half over; the typical median across Irish towns is 37.6. 17% are 65 or over, against 14% across Ireland’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
About 70 residents (7.1%) give regular unpaid care, more than in 96% of Irish towns. Relationships & caring ↓
More with no religion than most
26% answered “no religion”, against 17% across Ireland’s towns; 56% are Catholic (71%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Written from the data on this page: CSO Census 2022.
Newcastle’s population moved +5% on 2016, less than in 67% 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.
Elsewhere, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +13% across Co. Wicklow’s towns.
17% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 71% of Irish towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: nearly one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across Ireland’s towns. The wider picture: 14% of residents are 65 or over across Ireland’s towns. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 13%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Wicklow 50.8%, Ireland 51.2%.
11% of residents 15 and over are students, a share 65% of Irish towns don’t reach
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
Among workers, managers, directors and senior officials stand out: 14%, against a typical 7.8%. Lower than in nearly three fifths of Irish towns: 6.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. As a yardstick, 10% of residents 15 and over are students across Ireland’s towns.
Newcastle households average 2.9 people, larger than in 80% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Wicklow’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
Parents with children are 47% of households (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 18% are one person living alone (Co. Wicklow’s towns 18%). One-person households are rarer here than in just over three quarters of Irish towns.
Below 98% of Irish towns: 4.2% of households have no car or van
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
Little separates the share of holiday homes here, 0.5%, from the figure across Ireland’s towns. Across Ireland’s towns, households without a car or van come to 17%.
Households here have a median income of €71,470 a year
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €71,470 sits 19% above Ireland (€60,120). In Co. Wicklow overall, the median comes to €64,080.
Only 5.6% of residents are citizens of another country in Newcastle
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.
8.1% speak another language at home, most often French (2.3%); 0.4% speak English not well or not at all. Measured more widely, 15% of residents are citizens of another country across Ireland’s towns. Residents born outside Ireland are rarer here than in 85% of Irish towns.
Of Newcastle’s residents, 36% can speak Irish
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
Within Co. Wicklow, Bray has the largest share, 1.4%. 1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 56% of Irish towns.
Newcastle sits below 90% of Irish towns for residents who said they are Catholic (56%)
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 Newcastle · Co. Wicklow’s towns 83% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
With residents with no religion at 26%, Newcastle is ahead of 86% of Irish towns on that count. By way of comparison, 71% of residents said they are Catholic across Ireland’s towns. Next after White Irish come Other White (6.6%), Asian or Asian Irish (1.6%) and Other, including mixed (0.9%).
Newcastle sits above 96% of Irish towns for married residents 15 and over (43%)
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.
7.1% of residents give unpaid care, against 5.4% across Ireland’s towns. Measured more widely, 34% of residents 15 and over are married across Ireland’s towns.
A larger share of adults with a degree or higher than 58% of Irish towns: 39%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
14% of Newcastle’s adults hold a postgraduate qualification, and 7.8% finished their education at primary level or earlier (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Across Ireland’s towns, adults with a degree or higher come to 36%.
Newcastle is older than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 1,010 | — | 43.3 | 17% | 47% |
| Newtownmountkennedy | 3,539 | 3.6 km | 35.5 | 10% | 58% |
| Kilcoole | 4,569 | 3.7 km | 37.8 | 12% | 58% |
| Kilpedder | 1,248 | 5.1 km | 43.1 | 18% | 51% |
| Greystones-Delgany | 22,009 | 7.3 km | 39.4 | 14% | 51% |
| Ashford | 1,892 | 7.9 km | 38.6 | 15% | 50% |
| Rathnew | 3,482 | 9.4 km | 33.4 | 7.3% | 63% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Wicklow’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Co. Wicklow’s towns of 2,500 or more and over 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 Newcastle’s residents
What is the population of Newcastle?
Newcastle had 1,010 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 5% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Newcastle?
The median age is 43.3. 22% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Newcastle?
36% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (345 people), and 1% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Newcastle?
91% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 15% were born abroad and 5.6% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Newcastle?
56% are Catholic, 26% have no religion and 18% another religion; 2.3% didn’t say.
Is Newcastle good for families?
47% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 22% of residents are under 18. Schools near Newcastle are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Newcastle?
Median gross household income in Newcastle was €71,470 in 2022, against €64,080 across Co. Wicklow 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).