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 Galway. 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 Galway
Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas
The population of the Galway Gaeltacht living within the Galway county boundary increased from 49,524 people in Census 2016 to 54,183 people in Census 2022. This included 17,496 people in the Galway City Gaeltacht area and 36,687 people in the Galway County Gaeltacht area. The County Gaeltacht area had the largest increase in population of all Gaeltacht areas, with almost 3,000 more people living in it than in 2016.
There were almost 17,000 people aged three and over in the Galway City Gaeltacht area and over 7,700 of those could speak Irish. In the Galway County Gaeltacht area just over 24,200 of the almost 35,500 people aged three and over could speak Irish.
There were 124 people speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system in the City Gaeltacht area, compared to 156 in 2016. The number of people speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only) grew to 522 from 490 in 2016. The City Gaeltacht area had the lowest proportion of daily Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas at 4%. There were 677 people speaking Irish weekly (outside the education system only) which was up from 593 in 2016.
In April 2022 in the Galway County Gaeltacht area, 2,141 people were speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system, up from 2,011 in 2016. There were 7,232 people speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only), which was down from 7,434 in 2016.
The area had the highest proportion of daily Irish speakers among all Gaeltacht areas at 26% (though this was down from 29% in 2016). The number of people speaking Irish weekly (outside the education system only) increased to 1,878 from 1,770.
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 City Gaeltacht area, 1,351 spoke the language very well while 2,583 spoke it well and 3,677 did not speak it well. Irish speakers in the City Gaeltacht area were the most likely of all speakers in Gaeltacht areas to not speak the language well. In the County Gaeltacht area, 12,132 people spoke the language very well while 5,709 spoke it well and 5,978 could not speak it well. Of all Gaeltacht areas, Irish speakers in the County Gaeltacht were the most likely to speak the language well (24%) or very well (50%).
Irish Speakers Overall
There were 82,073 people aged three years and over living in the Galway City area and of these 32,708 could speak Irish. This was up from 31,140 people who could speak it in 2016. Irish speakers made up 45% of all those aged three and over compared with 43% in 2016.
In the County area, 89,222 of the 186,508 people aged three and over living there could speak Irish. This was up from 84,249 people who could speak it in 2016. Irish speakers made up 50% of the population aged three and over, the same proportion as in 2016. 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 Galway could speak Irish. In the Galway City area, 18,227 females could speak Irish while almost 14,500 males could do so. There were almost 48,000 female speakers in the county area and nearly 41,500 male 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 April 2022 in the Galway City area, 451 people were speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system, which was down from the 460 people doing so in 2016. There were 1,721 people speaking Irish daily outside the education system only, which was down from 1,835 in 2016. The number of people speaking Irish weekly (outside the education system only) increased to 2,818 from 2,782.
In the County area, 2,671 people were speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system, up from 2,510 in 2016. The number of people speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only) fell to 8,664 from 9,020 in Census 2016. There were 5,946 people speaking Irish weekly (outside the education system only), up from 5,573 people who did so in 2016.
Fluency in Speaking Irish
Among Irish speakers in the Galway City Council area 5,282 people spoke the language very well (16%), while almost 10,500 could speak it well (32%) and more than 16,200 could not speak the language well (50%).
Of the Irish speakers in the County Council area, more than 18,000 people (20%) spoke the language very well, with nearly 27,000 speaking it well (30%) and 42,000 not being able to speak it well (47%).
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 28,500 people in the City area had a third level qualification, up from just over 24,600 in 2016. This was a rate of 53%, compared to the national rate of 45%. There were 1,657 people in Galway who held a PhD, which was 4% of all PhD holders in the country. Almost 11,500 people, or 21% of all those aged 15 and over, had completed their full-time education at upper secondary level. This was down from nearly 12,000 in 2016. Nationally, almost 867,400 people had completed their education at upper secondary level (26%).
Just over 4,200 people in Galway City in Census 2022 (8% of all those aged 15 and over) had completed their education at lower secondary level, compared with 4,261 people in Census 2016 who indicated they had done so.More than 446,000 people nationally had completed their education at lower secondary level (13%).
Just over 3,200 people aged 15 and over had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (6%). This was down from 3,828 people in 2016. Nationally, nearly 332,500 people had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (10%).
In the Galway County area, more than 58,600 people had a third level qualification, up from 45,899 in 2016. This was a rate of 46%, just above the national rate of 45%. Almost 33,000 people, or 26% of all those aged 15 and over, had completed their full-time education at upper secondary level. This was up from nearly 32,500 in 2016. Nearly 16,000 people in Galway County in Census 2022 (13% of all those aged 15 and over) had completed their education at lower secondary level, compared with 16,335 people in Census 2016 who indicated they had done so. Just over 13,700 people aged 15 and over had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (11%). This was down from 16,559 people in 2016.
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 Galway City the average age rose from 22 years to 22.6 years. The average age in the County area went from 20 to 21 years. Nationally the average age grew from 19.9 years to 20.8 years.