How many people the census counted as Irish speakers, from 1851 to 2022. The figures come in separate series, because the census changed what it asked, whom it counted and how it worked out the percentage. They are shown apart here, not joined into one line.
Bars show the percentage, all on the same 0–50% scale. No all-island series exists here for 1851–1911, and there is no Northern Ireland figure for 1991.
Definition: People returned as speaking Irish (Irish only, or Irish and English), all ages, re-tabulated by the 1926 Census for the area of Saorstát Éireann. Percent = Irish speakers as % of total persons.
| Census | Irish speakers | Percent | 0–50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1851 | 1,485,050 | 29.1% | |
| 1861 | 1,077,087 | 24.5% | |
| 1871 | 804,547 | 19.8% | |
| 1881 | 924,781 | 23.9% | |
| 1891 | 664,387 | 19.2% | |
| 1901 | 619,710 | 19.2% | |
| 1911 | 553,717 | 17.6% | |
| 1926 | 543,511 | 18.3% |
Definition: People aged 3 and over returned as able to speak Irish (the ability question used before 1996). Percent = Irish speakers as % of the population aged 3+.
| Census | Irish speakers | Percent | 0–50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 | 540,802 | 19.3% | |
| 1936 | 666,601 | 23.7% | |
| 1946 | 588,725 | 21.2% | |
| 1961 | 716,420 | 27.2% | |
| 1971 | 789,429 | 28.3% | |
| 1981 | 1,018,413 | 31.6% | |
| 1986 | 1,042,701 | 31.1% | |
| 1991 | 1,095,830 | 32.5% |
Source: CSO PxStat CNA09 ↗
Definition: People aged 3 and over who answered yes to being able to speak Irish (new question from 1996, which also asked how often). Percent = Irish speakers as % of everyone aged 3+, with 'not stated' counted as non-Irish speakers.
| Census | Irish speakers | Percent | 0–50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1,430,205 | 41.1% | |
| 2002 | 1,570,894 | 41.9% | |
| 2006 | 1,656,790 | 40.8% | |
| 2011 | 1,774,437 | 40.6% | |
| 2016 | 1,761,420 | 38.5% |
Source: CSO PxStat CNA09 ↗
Definition: People aged 3 and over able to speak Irish. Percent = Irish speakers as % of those aged 3+ who answered the question (CSO F8002), so it can't be compared directly with the percentages in the 1996–2016 series.
| Census | Irish speakers | Percent | 0–50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,774,437 | 41.4% | |
| 2016 | 1,761,420 | 39.8% | |
| 2022 | 1,873,997 | 40.4% |
Source: CSO PxStat F8002 ↗
Definition: Usual residents aged 3+ with some ability in Irish (understand, speak, read and/or write; NISRA KS24, KS209NI and MS-B05). Includes people who only understand Irish. Percent = % of usual residents aged 3+.
| Census | Irish speakers | Percent | 0–50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 167,490 | 10.35% | |
| 2011 | 184,898 | 10.65% | |
| 2021 | 228,617 | 12.45% |
Source: NISRA census tables (2001 KS24, 2011 KS209NI, 2021 MS-B05) ↗
Each cell is the number of Irish speakers, with the percentage of the county's population beneath it. Counts are from Table 6 and percentages from Table 5 of the 1926 Census, Volume 8, transcribed from the scans; each year's county counts add up to the national figure above.
Why some percentages are "—": Table 6 lists the county boroughs (Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford cities) apart from their counties, so the counts here add the two together. Tipperary adds the North and South Ridings. Table 5 prints no whole-county percentage for these five, and none has been worked out here.
| County | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 1926 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlow | 243 0.4% | 124 0.2% | 130 0.3% | 193 0.4% | 123 0.3% | 222 0.6% | 1,008 2.8% | 3,228 9.4% |
| Cavan | 13,027 7.5% | 7,627 5% | 3,358 2.4% | 7,004 5.4% | 3,410 3% | 5,425 5.6% | 2,968 3.3% | 8,861 10.7% |
| Clare | 126,996 59.8% | 79,200 47.6% | 58,145 39.3% | 65,085 46% | 46,878 37.7% | 43,486 38.7% | 36,704 35.2% | 28,842 30.3% |
| Cork | 306,415 — | 202,059 — | 152,359 — | 173,700 — | 119,720 — | 105,716 — | 83,898 — | 68,553 — |
| Donegal | 73,258 28.7% | 71,326 30% | 63,135 28.9% | 71,764 34.8% | 62,037 33.4% | 60,677 34.9% | 59,313 35.2% | 52,408 34.4% |
| Dublin | 4,707 — | 3,843 — | 1,646 — | 5,193 — | 3,472 — | 12,998 — | 17,743 — | 39,618 — |
| Galway | 222,244 69.1% | 166,404 61.3% | 139,703 56.2% | 155,334 64.2% | 125,575 58.5% | 108,870 56.5% | 98,523 54.1% | 80,238 47.4% |
| Kerry | 146,498 61.5% | 115,101 57% | 81,968 41.7% | 99,338 49.4% | 74,182 41.4% | 71,671 43.2% | 60,719 38% | 49,262 33% |
| Kildare | 514 0.5% | 554 0.6% | 260 0.3% | 634 0.8% | 381 0.5% | 1,198 1.9% | 1,677 2.5% | 5,793 10% |
| Kilkenny | 21,420 13.5% | 14,203 11.4% | 6,740 6.2% | 9,245 9.3% | 3,933 4.5% | 3,568 4.5% | 3,264 4.4% | 7,389 10.4% |
| Laois | 244 0.2% | 103 0.1% | 89 0.1% | 273 0.4% | 190 0.3% | 405 0.7% | 1,427 2.6% | 5,163 10% |
| Leitrim | 15,003 13.4% | 13,827 13.2% | 6,855 7.2% | 9,600 10.6% | 5,622 7.2% | 4,004 5.8% | 3,923 6.2% | 6,044 10.8% |
| Limerick | 82,186 — | 50,151 — | 24,765 — | 32,240 — | 17,062 — | 14,060 — | 13,533 — | 17,297 — |
| Longford | 1,465 1.8% | 808 1.1% | 245 0.4% | 642 1.1% | 252 0.5% | 340 0.7% | 915 2.1% | 4,097 10.3% |
| Louth | 19,361 18% | 9,351 10.3% | 4,109 4.9% | 5,627 7.2% | 2,676 3.8% | 3,204 4.9% | 3,760 5.9% | 6,743 10.7% |
| Mayo | 180,078 65.8% | 156,376 61.4% | 138,961 56.5% | 147,738 60.2% | 110,365 50.4% | 99,764 50.1% | 88,601 46.1% | 63,514 36.8% |
| Meath | 8,963 6.4% | 5,416 4.9% | 2,202 2.3% | 3,531 4% | 1,492 1.9% | 1,357 2% | 2,447 3.8% | 6,087 9.7% |
| Monaghan | 10,955 7.7% | 7,417 5.9% | 5,102 4.4% | 6,604 6.4% | 2,847 3.3% | 5,324 7.1% | 5,430 7.6% | 7,338 11.3% |
| Offaly | 403 0.4% | 396 0.4% | 246 0.3% | 531 0.7% | 324 0.5% | 522 0.9% | 1,933 3.4% | 5,064 9.6% |
| Roscommon | 46,296 26.7% | 33,146 21.1% | 18,103 12.9% | 21,589 16.3% | 11,885 10.4% | 15,372 15.1% | 10,113 10.8% | 12,936 15.5% |
| Sligo | 49,228 38.3% | 39,729 31.8% | 26,589 23% | 31,930 28.6% | 21,336 21.8% | 17,570 20.9% | 15,927 20.1% | 12,477 17.5% |
| Tipperary | 62,764 — | 37,911 — | 21,920 — | 23,806 — | 12,312 — | 9,735 — | 10,020 — | 16,290 — |
| Waterford | 90,926 — | 61,109 — | 47,337 — | 51,597 — | 37,479 — | 31,600 — | 23,820 — | 17,977 — |
| Westmeath | 921 0.8% | 483 0.5% | 276 0.4% | 828 1.2% | 338 0.5% | 691 1.1% | 2,096 3.5% | 5,572 9.8% |
| Wexford | 800 0.4% | 241 0.2% | 210 0.2% | 512 0.4% | 320 0.3% | 1,300 1.2% | 2,901 2.8% | 7,712 8% |
| Wicklow | 135 0.1% | 182 0.2% | 94 0.1% | 243 0.3% | 176 0.3% | 631 1% | 1,054 1.7% | 5,008 8.7% |
Two quirks in the printed source are kept as printed. Mayo 1851 is printed as 65.8% in Table 5, but Table 6's counts give about 65.6%. And the Leinster counties' non-Irish-speaker counts in Table 6 don't add up to the printed Leinster total for 1871 (off by 9,000) or 1881 (off by 6); the Irish-speaker counts are not affected. Sources: Table 5 ↗ · Table 6 ↗ · Download as CSV
No county figures for 1936–2016 are given here; the 2022 county figures are on Irish in the counties. No all-island series for 1851–1911 was read for this page, and no Northern Ireland table for 1991.
Irish speakers in every county today · The Gaeltacht in numbers · Population since 1841 · The Famine by county