Census 2011 - Preliminary results
Actual and percentage change in population for each Census year from 1926 by Statistic, Province or County and Year
County	1926	1936	1946	1951	1956	1961	1966	1971	1979	1981	1986	1991	1996	2002	2006	2011
Population (Number)
Leinster	1,149,092	1,220,411	1,281,117	1,336,576	1,338,942	1,332,149	1,414,415	1,498,140	1,743,861	1,790,521	1,852,649	1,860,949	1,924,702	2,105,579	2,295,123	2,501,208
Carlow	34,476	34,452	34,081	34,162	33,888	33,342	33,593	34,237	38,668	39,820	40,988	40,942	41,616	46,014	50,349	54,532
Dublin	505,654	586,925	636,193	693,022	705,781	718,332	795,047	852,219	983,683	1,003,164	1,021,449	1,025,304	1,058,264	1,122,821	1,187,176	1,270,603
Kildare	58,028	57,892	64,849	66,437	65,915	64,420	66,404	71,977	97,185	104,122	116,247	122,656	134,992	163,944	186,335	209,955
Kilkenny	70,990	68,614	66,712	65,235	64,089	61,668	60,463	61,473	69,156	70,806	73,186	73,635	75,336	80,339	87,558	95,360
Laois	51,540	50,109	49,697	48,430	47,087	45,069	44,595	45,259	49,936	51,171	53,284	52,314	52,945	58,774	67,059	80,458
Longford	39,847	37,847	36,218	34,553	32,969	30,643	28,989	28,250	30,785	31,140	31,496	30,296	30,166	31,068	34,391	38,970
Louth	62,739	64,339	66,194	68,771	69,194	67,378	69,519	74,951	86,135	88,514	91,810	90,724	92,166	101,821	111,267	122,808
Meath	62,969	61,405	66,232	66,337	66,762	65,122	67,323	71,729	90,715	95,419	103,881	105,370	109,732	134,005	162,831	184,034
Offaly	52,592	51,308	53,686	52,544	51,970	51,533	51,717	51,829	57,342	58,312	59,835	58,494	59,117	63,663	70,868	76,806
Westmeath	56,818	54,706	54,949	54,463	54,122	52,861	52,900	53,570	59,885	61,523	63,379	61,880	63,314	71,858	79,346	85,961
Wexford	95,848	94,245	91,855	90,032	87,259	83,308	83,437	86,351	96,421	99,081	102,552	102,069	104,371	116,596	131,749	145,273
Wicklow	57,591	58,569	60,451	62,590	59,906	58,473	60,428	66,295	83,950	87,449	94,542	97,265	102,683	114,676	126,194	136,448
Munster	969,902	942,272	917,306	898,870	877,238	849,203	859,334	882,002	979,819	998,315	1,020,577	1,009,533	1,033,903	1,100,614	1,173,340	1,243,726
Clare	95,064	89,879	85,064	81,329	77,176	73,702	73,597	75,008	84,919	87,567	91,344	90,918	94,006	103,277	110,950	116,885
Cork	365,747	355,957	343,668	341,284	336,663	330,443	339,703	352,883	396,118	402,465	412,735	410,369	420,510	447,829	481,295	518,128
Kerry	149,171	139,834	133,893	126,644	122,072	116,458	112,785	112,772	120,356	122,770	124,159	121,894	126,130	132,527	139,835	145,048
Limerick	140,343	141,153	142,559	141,239	137,881	133,339	137,357	140,459	157,407	161,661	164,569	161,956	165,042	175,304	184,055	191,306
North Tipperary	59,645	59,551	58,103	57,009	55,697	53,696	53,843	54,337	58,476	58,984	59,522	57,854	58,021	61,010	66,023	70,219
South Tipperary	81,370	78,284	77,911	76,304	73,718	70,126	68,969	69,228	75,265	76,277	77,097	74,918	75,514	79,121	83,221	88,433
Waterford	78,562	77,614	76,108	75,061	74,031	71,439	73,080	77,315	87,278	88,591	91,151	91,624	94,680	101,546	107,961	113,707
Connacht	552,907	525,468	492,797	471,895	446,221	419,465	401,950	390,902	418,500	424,410	431,409	423,031	433,231	464,296	504,121	542,039
Galway	169,366	168,198	165,201	160,204	155,553	149,887	148,340	149,223	167,838	172,018	178,552	180,364	188,854	209,077	231,670	250,541
Leitrim	55,907	50,908	44,591	41,209	37,056	33,470	30,572	28,360	27,844	27,609	27,035	25,301	25,057	25,799	28,950	31,778
Mayo	172,690	161,349	148,120	141,867	133,052	123,330	115,547	109,525	114,019	114,766	115,184	110,713	111,524	117,446	123,839	130,552
Roscommon	83,556	77,566	72,510	68,102	63,710	59,217	56,228	53,519	54,189	54,543	54,592	51,897	51,975	53,774	58,768	63,898
Sligo	71,388	67,447	62,375	60,513	56,850	53,561	51,263	50,275	54,610	55,474	56,046	54,756	55,821	58,200	60,894	65,270
Ulster (part of)	300,091	280,269	263,887	253,252	235,863	217,524	208,303	207,204	226,037	230,159	236,008	232,206	234,251	246,714	267,264	294,296
Cavan	82,452	76,670	70,355	66,377	61,740	56,594	54,022	52,618	53,720	53,855	53,965	52,796	52,944	56,546	64,003	72,874
Donegal	152,508	142,310	136,317	131,530	122,059	113,842	108,549	108,344	121,941	125,112	129,664	128,117	129,994	137,575	147,264	160,927
Monaghan	65,131	61,289	57,215	55,345	52,064	47,088	45,732	46,242	50,376	51,192	52,379	51,293	51,313	52,593	55,997	60,495
State	2,971,992	2,968,420	2,955,107	2,960,593	2,898,264	2,818,341	2,884,002	2,978,248	3,368,217	3,443,405	3,540,643	3,525,719	3,626,087	3,917,203	4,239,848	4,581,269
Actual change since previous census (Number)
Leinster	0	71,319	60,706	55,459	2,366	-6,793	82,266	83,725	245,721	46,660	62,128	8,300	63,753	180,877	189,544	206,085
Carlow	0	-24	-371	81	-274	-546	251	644	4,431	1,152	1,168	-46	674	4,398	4,335	4,183
Dublin	0	81,271	49,268	56,829	12,759	12,551	76,715	57,172	131,464	19,481	18,285	3,855	32,960	64,557	64,355	83,427
Kildare	0	-136	6,957	1,588	-522	-1,495	1,984	5,573	25,208	6,937	12,125	6,409	12,336	28,952	22,391	23,620
Kilkenny	0	-2,376	-1,902	-1,477	-1,146	-2,421	-1,205	1,010	7,683	1,650	2,380	449	1,701	5,003	7,219	7,802
Laois	0	-1,431	-412	-1,267	-1,343	-2,018	-474	664	4,677	1,235	2,113	-970	631	5,829	8,285	13,399
Longford	0	-2,000	-1,629	-1,665	-1,584	-2,326	-1,654	-739	2,535	355	356	-1,200	-130	902	3,323	4,579
Louth	0	1,600	1,855	2,577	423	-1,816	2,141	5,432	11,184	2,379	3,296	-1,086	1,442	9,655	9,446	11,541
Meath	0	-1,564	4,827	105	425	-1,640	2,201	4,406	18,986	4,704	8,462	1,489	4,362	24,273	28,826	21,203
Offaly	0	-1,284	2,378	-1,142	-574	-437	184	112	5,513	970	1,523	-1,341	623	4,546	7,205	5,938
Westmeath	0	-2,112	243	-486	-341	-1,261	39	670	6,315	1,638	1,856	-1,499	1,434	8,544	7,488	6,615
Wexford	0	-1,603	-2,390	-1,823	-2,773	-3,951	129	2,914	10,070	2,660	3,471	-483	2,302	12,225	15,153	13,524
Wicklow	0	978	1,882	2,139	-2,684	-1,433	1,955	5,867	17,655	3,499	7,093	2,723	5,418	11,993	11,518	10,254
Munster	0	-27,630	-24,966	-18,436	-21,632	-28,035	10,131	22,668	97,817	18,496	22,262	-11,044	24,370	66,711	72,726	70,386
Clare	0	-5,185	-4,815	-3,735	-4,153	-3,474	-105	1,411	9,911	2,648	3,777	-426	3,088	9,271	7,673	5,935
Cork	0	-9,790	-12,289	-2,384	-4,621	-6,220	9,260	13,180	43,235	6,347	10,270	-2,366	10,141	27,319	33,466	36,833
Kerry	0	-9,337	-5,941	-7,249	-4,572	-5,614	-3,673	-13	7,584	2,414	1,389	-2,265	4,236	6,397	7,308	5,213
Limerick	0	810	1,406	-1,320	-3,358	-4,542	4,018	3,102	16,948	4,254	2,908	-2,613	3,086	10,262	8,751	7,251
North Tipperary	0	-94	-1,448	-1,094	-1,312	-2,001	147	494	4,139	508	538	-1,668	167	2,989	5,013	4,196
South Tipperary	0	-3,086	-373	-1,607	-2,586	-3,592	-1,157	259	6,037	1,012	820	-2,179	596	3,607	4,100	5,212
Waterford	0	-948	-1,506	-1,047	-1,030	-2,592	1,641	4,235	9,963	1,313	2,560	473	3,056	6,866	6,415	5,746
Connacht	0	-27,439	-32,671	-20,902	-25,674	-26,756	-17,515	-11,048	27,598	5,910	6,999	-8,378	10,200	31,065	39,825	37,918
Galway	0	-1,168	-2,997	-4,997	-4,651	-5,666	-1,547	883	18,615	4,180	6,534	1,812	8,490	20,223	22,593	18,871
Leitrim	0	-4,999	-6,317	-3,382	-4,153	-3,586	-2,898	-2,212	-516	-235	-574	-1,734	-244	742	3,151	2,828
Mayo	0	-11,341	-13,229	-6,253	-8,815	-9,722	-7,783	-6,022	4,494	747	418	-4,471	811	5,922	6,393	6,713
Roscommon	0	-5,990	-5,056	-4,408	-4,392	-4,493	-2,989	-2,709	670	354	49	-2,695	78	1,799	4,994	5,130
Sligo	0	-3,941	-5,072	-1,862	-3,663	-3,289	-2,298	-988	4,335	864	572	-1,290	1,065	2,379	2,694	4,376
Ulster (part of)	0	-19,822	-16,382	-10,635	-17,389	-18,339	-9,221	-1,099	18,833	4,122	5,849	-3,802	2,045	12,463	20,550	27,032
Cavan	0	-5,782	-6,315	-3,978	-4,637	-5,146	-2,572	-1,404	1,102	135	110	-1,169	148	3,602	7,457	8,871
Donegal	0	-10,198	-5,993	-4,787	-9,471	-8,217	-5,293	-205	13,597	3,171	4,552	-1,547	1,877	7,581	9,689	13,663
Monaghan	0	-3,842	-4,074	-1,870	-3,281	-4,976	-1,356	510	4,134	816	1,187	-1,086	20	1,280	3,404	4,498
State	0	-3,572	-13,313	5,486	-62,329	-79,923	65,661	94,246	389,969	75,188	97,238	-14,924	100,368	291,116	322,645	341,421
Percentage change since previous census (%)
Leinster	0	6.2	5	4.3	0.2	-0.5	6.2	5.9	16.4	2.7	3.5	0.4	3.4	9.4	9	9
Carlow	0	-0.1	-1.1	0.2	-0.8	-1.6	0.8	1.9	12.9	3	2.9	-0.1	1.6	10.6	9.4	8.3
Dublin	0	16.1	8.4	8.9	1.8	1.8	10.7	7.2	15.4	2	1.8	0.4	3.2	6.1	5.7	7
Kildare	0	-0.2	12	2.4	-0.8	-2.3	3.1	8.4	35	7.1	11.6	5.5	10.1	21.4	13.7	12.7
Kilkenny	0	-3.3	-2.8	-2.2	-1.8	-3.8	-2	1.7	12.5	2.4	3.4	0.6	2.3	6.6	9	8.9
Laois	0	-2.8	-0.8	-2.5	-2.8	-4.3	-1.1	1.5	10.3	2.5	4.1	-1.8	1.2	11	14.1	20
Longford	0	-5	-4.3	-4.6	-4.6	-7.1	-5.4	-2.5	9	1.2	1.1	-3.8	-0.4	3	10.7	13.3
Louth	0	2.6	2.9	3.9	0.6	-2.6	3.2	7.8	14.9	2.8	3.7	-1.2	1.6	10.5	9.3	10.4
Meath	0	-2.5	7.9	0.2	0.6	-2.5	3.4	6.5	26.5	5.2	8.9	1.4	4.1	22.1	21.5	13
Offaly	0	-2.4	4.6	-2.1	-1.1	-0.8	0.4	0.2	10.6	1.7	2.6	-2.2	1.1	7.7	11.3	8.4
Westmeath	0	-3.7	0.4	-0.9	-0.6	-2.3	0.1	1.3	11.8	2.7	3	-2.4	2.3	13.5	10.4	8.3
Wexford	0	-1.7	-2.5	-2	-3.1	-4.5	0.2	3.5	11.7	2.8	3.5	-0.5	2.3	11.7	13	10.3
Wicklow	0	1.7	3.2	3.5	-4.3	-2.4	3.3	9.7	26.6	4.2	8.1	2.9	5.6	11.7	10	8.1
Munster	0	-2.8	-2.6	-2	-2.4	-3.2	1.2	2.6	11.1	1.9	2.2	-1.1	2.4	6.5	6.6	6
Clare	0	-5.5	-5.4	-4.4	-5.1	-4.5	-0.1	1.9	13.2	3.1	4.3	-0.5	3.4	9.9	7.4	5.3
Cork	0	-2.7	-3.5	-0.7	-1.4	-1.8	2.8	3.9	12.3	1.6	2.6	-0.6	2.5	6.5	7.5	7.7
Kerry	0	-6.3	-4.2	-5.4	-3.6	-4.6	-3.2	0	6.7	2	1.1	-1.8	3.5	5.1	5.5	3.7
Limerick	0	0.6	1	-0.9	-2.4	-3.3	3	2.3	12.1	2.7	1.8	-1.6	1.9	6.2	5	3.9
North Tipperary	0	-0.2	-2.4	-1.9	-2.3	-3.6	0.3	0.9	7.6	0.9	0.9	-2.8	0.3	5.2	8.2	6.4
South Tipperary	0	-3.8	-0.5	-2.1	-3.4	-4.9	-1.6	0.4	8.7	1.3	1.1	-2.8	0.8	4.8	5.2	6.3
Waterford	0	-1.2	-1.9	-1.4	-1.4	-3.5	2.3	5.8	12.9	1.5	2.9	0.5	3.3	7.3	6.3	5.3
Connacht	0	-5	-6.2	-4.2	-5.4	-6	-4.2	-2.7	7.1	1.4	1.6	-1.9	2.4	7.2	8.6	7.5
Galway	0	-0.7	-1.8	-3	-2.9	-3.6	-1	0.6	12.5	2.5	3.8	1	4.7	10.7	10.8	8.1
Leitrim	0	-8.9	-12.4	-7.6	-10.1	-9.7	-8.7	-7.2	-1.8	-0.8	-2.1	-6.4	-1	3	12.2	9.8
Mayo	0	-6.6	-8.2	-4.2	-6.2	-7.3	-6.3	-5.2	4.1	0.7	0.4	-3.9	0.7	5.3	5.4	5.4
Roscommon	0	-7.2	-6.5	-6.1	-6.4	-7.1	-5	-4.8	1.3	0.7	0.1	-4.9	0.2	3.5	9.3	8.7
Sligo	0	-5.5	-7.5	-3	-6.1	-5.8	-4.3	-1.9	8.6	1.6	1	-2.3	1.9	4.3	4.6	7.2
Ulster (part of)	0	-6.6	-5.8	-4	-6.9	-7.8	-4.2	-0.5	9.1	1.8	2.5	-1.6	0.9	5.3	8.3	10.1
Cavan	0	-7	-8.2	-5.7	-7	-8.3	-4.5	-2.6	2.1	0.3	0.2	-2.2	0.3	6.8	13.2	13.9
Donegal	0	-6.7	-4.2	-3.5	-7.2	-6.7	-4.6	-0.2	12.5	2.6	3.6	-1.2	1.5	5.8	7	9.3
Monaghan	0	-5.9	-6.6	-3.3	-5.9	-9.6	-2.9	1.1	8.9	1.6	2.3	-2.1	0	2.5	6.5	8
State	0	-0.1	-0.4	0.2	-2.1	-2.8	2.3	3.3	13.1	2.2	2.8	-0.4	2.8	8	8.2	8.1
Figures in the above table for 2011 are preliminary figures only.
The figures shown in this table for each census relate to the areas as defined at the date of that census.