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» Note: Statistics for Northern Ireland are available on the UK Christianity page.

Introduction

» Statistics for the previous census in 2011 are available on the Irish Census (2011) page.

A Census was held in Ireland in April 2016 and a preliminary report published a year later.

Religion in Ireland

The 2016 Census indicated that Ireland remains a strongly Roman Catholic country, with 78.3% of the population identifying as such. This represents a fall of 5.9% since the last census in 2011 and a fall of 13.3% over a 25 year period since the 1991 Census.





In comparison to the 2011 census, the total number of Catholics fell by 132,200 (3.4%) from 3,861,300 to 3,729,100.





There has also been a significant rise in the number with no religion which grew by 73.6% from 269,800 to 468,400 or nearly 1 person in 10 of the total Irish population.





Around 12% of persons aged 30-34 have no religious adherence, the highest of any age band.





The Muslim population has grown to 63,400, increase of 28.9%.





The fastest growing religious belief was the Orthodox branch of Christianity, whose adherents in Ireland grew from 45,200 in 2011 to 65,200 in 2016, an increase of 37.5%.





Three counties had more than 1 in 3 of the population as non-Catholic, namely Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire and Galway City. Tipperary had the lowest percentage at 12.9%.

Hover over each bar/slice to obtain the figures for the year shown.

Note: Over the period 2011-2016, the Irish population as a whole grew by 3.8%.

Roman Catholic Church Attendance in Ireland

Outside of the Census, statistics on weekly Mass attendance have revealed an overall decline over the last 30 years, which is most marked in urban areas. A 2006 Poll conducted by the Irish state broadcaster RTE revealed that 48% of those surveyed attended mass at least weekly, as compared to 81% in 1990. A 2011 Survey found weekly attendance rates in the Dublin area to be 14%.

As part of the European Social Survey in 2010, Roman Catholics in Ireland were questioned on their church attendance patterns:

Weighted Base: 1,844

Over the period 1972-2011, weekly church attendance by Irish Roman Catholics fell from 91% to 30%. For the population as a whole, the following graph details the decline in attendance:

Roman Catholic Priests in Ireland

The number of priests has fallen by 16.4% over a 10 year period (2004-2014).

Source: The Irish Catholic