The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (19 December 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 8 – The Irish Language and Education. This press release highlights some of the main results for Dublin. A full list of county press releases is available.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie | |
| pressoffice@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, Deirdre Lynch, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Profile 8 looks at two distinct aspects of the Census 2022 results, the Irish language and the education of the population in detail. The report includes details on how many of us speak Irish, how often we do so, and to what level it is spoken. The topic of Education provides insights into the levels of qualifications achieved in the population, the age full-time education is ceased, early school leavers by age and sex, as well as the relationships between level of education and employment and economic status.”
Some highlights for Dublin
Irish Speakers
There were 162,400 people (aged three years and over) who could speak Irish in Dublin City in Census 2022. This was up from more than 156,400 in Census 2016. This was 33% of all those aged 15 and over.
In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown the number of Irish speakers increased to almost 94,000 from just over 83,000 in 2016. This was 43% of the population aged three years and over. There were more than 113,000 people who could speak Irish in Fingal, compared with just over 100,000 in 2016. They made up 38% of the population aged three years and over. In South Dublin the number of Irish speakers grew from almost 91,000 to just over 98,000. This was 36% of those aged three years and over. Nationally, almost 1.9 million people could speak Irish, or 40% of all people aged three and over. This was up by more than 112,500 people since 2016 (+6%).
More females than males in Dublin could speak Irish. In the Dublin City Council area, nearly 90,000 females and over 72,000 males could speak the language. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown there were over 51,000 female speakers and more than 42,000 male speakers. In Fingal there were nearly 52,000 male speakers and over 61,500 female speakers. In South Dublin there were almost 54,000 female Irish speakers and just over 44,000 male Irish speakers. Females nationally were also more likely to be able to speak Irish than males, accounting for 55% of all Irish speakers.
Where People Spoke Irish
In Dublin City the number of people speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system fell to 1,589 from 1,875 in 2016. There were 4,465 people speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only), down from 4,756. The number of people speaking the language weekly (outside the education system only) increased to 10,322 from 9,866.
There were 1,101 people speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, up slightly from 1,076 in 2016. There was a slight increase in those speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only) from 2,410 to 2,427 people. Just over 6,000 people were speaking Irish weekly (outside the education system only), compared to almost 5,200 in 2016.
In Fingal there were 1,179 people speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system, up from 1,131 in 2016. There were 2,221 people speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only), down from 2,254. The number of people speaking the language weekly (outside the education system only) increased to 6,264 from 5,553.
In South Dublin, the number of people speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system, grew slightly from 1,240 to 1,262. There were 2,244 people speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only), up from 2,303. The number of people speaking the language weekly (outside the education system only) increased to 5,618 from 5,287.
Fluency in Speaking Irish
The Irish language question was expanded in Census 2022 to ask those who spoke Irish how well they spoke it. Among Irish speakers in the Dublin City area over 16,500 people spoke the language very well (10%), while almost 50,000 could speak it well (31%) and more than 92,000 could not speak the language well (57%).
In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, more than 9,500 people spoke the language very well (10%), with nearly 27,500 speaking it well (29%) and almost 55,000 (58%) not speaking Irish well.
In Fingal just over 10,000 people spoke Irish very well (9%), with more than 36,200 doing so well (32%) and nearly 64,500 (57%) not speaking it well.
In South Dublin nearly 10,500 people spoke Irish very well (11%) with almost 30,600 speaking it well (31%) and 54,600 people not speaking it well (56%).
In Ireland overall, 10% of Irish speakers could speak the language very well with 32% speaking it well and 55% not speaking it well.
Level of Education
Almost 480,000 people in Dublin had a third level qualification in Census 2022. This was up from just over 398,000 in 2016. This included more than 193,000 people in Dublin City, over 100,000 people in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, nearly 102,000 people in Fingal and just over 84,000 people in South Dublin. Almost 16,000 people in Dublin held a PhD, which was 42% of all PhD holders in the country.
Among those aged 15 and over in Dublin City, nearly 81,000 people had completed their education at upper secondary level (20%). Almost 30,000 people in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had done so (19%), down from nearly 32,500 in 2016. In Fingal, just over 53,300 people had completed their education at upper secondary level (26%), up from nearly 51,400 in 2016. Nearly 51,400 people in South Dublin had done so (27%), up from just over 50,000 in 2016. Nationally, almost 867,400 people had completed their education at upper secondary level (26%).
Looking at lower secondary level, over 42,600 people in Dublin City had finished their education at this stage (10%), down from just over 44,200 in 2016. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, almost 11,200 people had finished their education at this stage (7%), down from almost 12,000 in 2016. The number who had done so in Fingal increased slightly, from 20,755 to 20,784 (10%). In South Dublin, just over 24,600 people had finished their education at lower secondary level (13%), down from just over 25,000 in 2016. More than 446,000 people nationally had completed their education at lower secondary level (13%).
In Dublin City, over 41,000 people had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (10%), down from almost 49,000 in 2016. Over 7,700 people in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had finished at primary level or had no formal education (5%), down from over 9,100 in 2016. Almost 13,000 people in Fingal had no formal education or had finished at primary level (6%), down from almost 14,000 people in 2016. In South Dublin nearly 19,000 people had no formal education or had finished at primary level (10%), down from almost 21,000 in 2016. Nationally, nearly 332,500 people had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (10%).
Age Completing Education
The average age at which people completed their full-time education increased in all counties between Census 2016 and Census 2022. In Dublin City the average age rose from 20.6 years to 21.4 years. The average age in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown was 22.5 years, up from 21.7 years. In Fingal the average age increased from 20.4 years to 21.2 years. The average age in South Dublin was 20.5 years, up from 19.7 years. Nationally the average age went from 19.9 years to 20.8 years.