Gaeltacht population in Meath grows 13 per cent

The population of the Meath Gaeltacht grew by 13 per cent from the previous census according to the latest profile published from Census 2022 which focused on Irish Language and Education.

Population in the Meath Gaeltacht increased from just over 1,850 in Census 2016 to 2,093 in last year's census.

This included 1,989 people aged three and over, and of these 1,179 could speak Irish. This was an increase of 117 people who could speak Irish (11 per cent), the second highest rate of increase in Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas.

The number of people speaking Irish daily within and outside the education system decreased from 92 to 71.

There were 205 people who spoke Irish daily (outside the education system only) which was up from 191 in 2016. The number of people who spoke Irish weekly (outside the education system only) increased slightly to 123 from 111.

The Irish language question was expanded in Census 2022 to ask those who spoke Irish how well they spoke it. There were 425 people who spoke Irish very well, while 344 spoke it well and 394 answered that they did not speak it well.

Looking at Irish speakers overall, the number of people (aged three and over) who could speak Irish in Meath increased by almost 9,100 to 80,822 in Census 2022. This was 39.8 per cent of the county’s population aged three and over, compared with 39.4 per cent in Census 2016.

Nationally, almost 1.9 million people could speak Irish, or 40 per cent of all people aged three and over. This was up by more than 112,500 people since 2016 (up six per cent).

There were more female than male Irish speakers in the county, with 44 per cent of females able to speak Irish compared with 36 per cent of males. Females nationally were also more likely to be able to speak Irish than males, accounting for 55 per cent of all Irish speakers.

The number of people speaking Irish daily (within the education system only) went up slightly, from 26,819 in Census 2016 to 27,566 in Census 2022. There were 1,696 people speaking Irish daily (outside the education system only), compared with 1,514 people in 2016. The 4,435 people speaking Irish weekly (outside the education system only) was a slight increase on the 4,018 people who did so in 2016.

In Meath, 10 per cent of people who said they could speak Irish said they spoke it very well spoke it very well (8,002) while 33 per cent (26,279) could speak it well and 55 per cent cent (44,483) did not speak it well. In Ireland overall, 10 per cent of Irish speakers could speak the language very well with 32 per cent speaking it well and 55 per cent not speaking it well.

The number of people with a third level qualification in the county rose by 33 per cent from almost 47,200 in 2016 to almost 62,600 in 2022. This was 45 per cent of the population aged 15 and over in Census 2022, up from 39 per cent in 2016.

Meath’s percentage of people with a third level qualification was the same as the national rate of 45 per cent. There were 1,003 people in the county who held a PhD, which was three per cent of all PhD holders in the country.

Slightly more than 38,700 people, or 28 per cent of all those aged 15 and over, had completed their full-time education at upper secondary level. This was up from almost 36,100 people in 2016. Nationally, almost 867,400 people had completed their education at upper secondary level (26 per cent).

Nearly 18,800 people in the county in Census 2022 (14 per cent of all those aged 15 and over) had completed their education at lower secondary level, compared with almost 18,300 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 per cent).

Just over 12,300 people aged 15 and over had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (nine per cent). This was down from almost 13,300 people in 2016. Nationally, nearly 332,500 people had completed their education at primary level or had no formal education (10 per cent).

The average age at which people completed their full-time education increased in all counties between Census 2016 and Census 2022. In Meath the average age rose from 19.6 years to 20.4 years. Nationally the average age went from 19.9 years to 20.8 years.