A Census of Population was taken on the night of Sunday, 24 April 2016, in accordance with the Statistics (Census of Population) Order 2015 (S.I. No. 445 of 2015).
The census figures relate to the de facto population i.e. the population recorded for each area represents the total of all persons present within its boundaries on the night of Sunday, 24 April 2016, together with all persons who arrived in that area on the morning of Monday, 25 April 2016, not having been enumerated elsewhere. Persons on board ships in port are included with the population of adjacent areas. The figures, therefore, include visitors present on Census Night as well as those in residence, while usual residents temporarily absent from the area are excluded.
The date of the census was chosen to coincide with a period when passenger movements were at a minimum and, consequently, the figures closely approximate to those for the normally resident population. The de facto measure of the population, referred to throughout this report, was 4,761,865 in April 2016 while the usually resident and present total was 4,689,921, a difference of 71,944 or 1.5%. The usually resident measure is used when analysing topics such as commuting patterns, nationality and households and families.
A temporary field force consisting of 6 Census Liaison Officers, 44 Regional Supervisors, 430 Field Supervisors and some 4,663 part-time enumerators carried out the census enumeration. During the four weeks before Census Night the enumerators visited some 2 million private residences and delivered census questionnaires to 1.7 million of these dwellings as well as to 4,140 communal establishments capable of accommodating people (such as hotels, nursing homes, etc.,) that were expected to be occupied on census night. Approximately 250,000 residences were vacant at the time of the census, while in the remaining cases the household was either enumerated elsewhere or temporarily absent from the State. The collection of completed questionnaires took place between Monday 25 April and Sunday 22 May, 2016.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) wishes to record its appreciation of the public-spirited co-operation received from households and the work carried out by the census field force.
Each enumerator first prepared and returned to the CSO a summary of the population of his/her enumeration area. These summaries formed the basis for the preliminary 2016 census results published in July 2016. The completed questionnaires for individual households were subsequently transported to the CSO for processing. The population summaries, dwelling listings and enumeration maps for individual enumeration areas were checked for consistency and used to determine the boundaries of census towns and suburbs. The capture and processing of the responses to questions on the questionnaires proceeded concurrently.
The planned publication schedule is contained in Appendix 3. Two summary reports will present highlight results primarily for the State; Census 2016 Summary Results - Part 1, looks at overall population change by county; it also examines age, marriage, households and families as well as including first results on nationality, foreign languages, the Irish language, religion and housing. The second summary report, Census 2016 Summary Results - Part 2, looks at other social and economic factors such as employment, occupations, education and skills as well as travel and health-related topics. A further seven profile reports will provide more detailed results on individual topics; the details are listed in the publication schedule.
All maps in this release are © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.
The term Aggregate Town Area or Urban Area refers to settlements with a total population of 1,500 or more. The term Aggregate Rural Area refers to the population outside Aggregate Town Areas and includes the population of settlements with a population of less than 1,500 persons.
Historically census towns were defined as a cluster of fifty or more occupied dwellings where, within a radius of 800 metres, there was a nucleus of thirty occupied dwellings (on both sides of a road, or twenty on one side of a road), along with a clearly defined urban centre e.g. a shop, a school, a place of worship or a community centre. Census town boundaries were extended over time where there was an occupied dwelling within 200 metres of the existing boundary.
In 2011 the proximity criteria were tightened, in line with UN criteria. This was done in order to avoid the agglomeration of adjacent towns caused by the inclusion of low density one off dwellings on the approach routes to towns.
First introduced in 2011 therefore, and continuing for Census 2016, a new census town was defined as having a minimum of 50 occupied dwellings, with a maximum distance between any dwelling and the building closest to it of 100 metres, and where there was evidence of an urban centre (shop, school etc.). The 100m proximity rule was also applied when extending existing 2011 Census town boundaries.
As part of Census 2016 all workers resident in Ireland on Census Night were geo-coded to their place of work. For the purposes of this report the total persons at work in any particular town or city are known as the daytime working population. The term is used loosely in the sense that it includes night-shift workers, along with those who are resident in the area and who work from home. The figures for daytime working populations exclude those who failed to provide information on the location of their workplace, and those who indicated they had no fixed place of work.
The term commuter refers to those who commute away from home to work, and excludes those who work from home.
The Census 2016 publication schedule is available here.
