Demographics
[edit]
Population[edit]
Historical populationYearPop.±%1821119,129—    1831124,846+4.8%1841128,240+2.7%1851107,662−16.0%186190,713−15.7%187184,021−7.4%188177,684−7.5%189171,038−8.6%190165,820−7.3%191163,665−3.3%192662,739−1.5%193664,339+2.6%194666,194+2.9%195168,771+3.9%195669,194+0.6%196167,378−2.6%196669,519+3.2%197174,951+7.8%197986,135+14.9%198188,514+2.8%198691,810+3.7%199190,724−1.2%199692,166+1.6%2002101,821+10.5%2006111,267+9.3%2011122,897+10.5%2016128,884+4.9%2022139,100+7.9%
Louth population density map (2016)
According to the Central Statistics Office, 139,703 people lived in County Louth as of the 2022 census, a 7.9% increase since the 2016 census. The population density of the county is 169.1 people per square kilometre, more than double the national average, which makes Louth the second most densely populated county in the Republic of Ireland, and the fourth most densely populated county on the island of Ireland. As of 2022, Louth was also the second most urbanised county in the State, with 69.7% of the county's population living within urban areas. Under Central Statistics Office (CSO) classification, an "urban area" is a town with a population greater than 1,500. As a result, much of the county outside of the larger towns is relatively sparsely populated, with most small areas (SAs) having a population density of between 20 and 50 people per km2.
The county has two dominant population centres, Dundalk, located in the north of the county, and Drogheda, located in the south on the border with County Meath. These two towns combined comprise approximately 58.9% of the county's total population, and are the 6th- and 7th-largest urban areas in Ireland respectively. Overall, Drogheda is the larger of the two.
2022 population by LEA
LEA
Population
Ardee
27,034
Drogheda Rural
19,845
Drogheda Rural
28,537
Dundalk–Carlingford
26,092
Dundalk South
38,195
Louth has experienced a rapid rate of population growth since the 1960s, nearly doubling in size in the fifty years between the census of 1966 and that of 2016. Its rate of growth (7.9%) since the 2016 census ranks 13th of 26 counties. The sizeable population growth in the county is influenced by its location along the Dublin–Belfast corridor; with the completion of the M1 motorway in particular driving the growth of Drogheda as a commuter town of Dublin. However, the northern areas of the county along the border with Northern Ireland have experienced a slight decline since 2011.
In 2016, Louth surpassed its pre-famine (1841 Census) population, becoming one of only five counties in the State to do so. As of the 2022 census, 5.9 per cent of the county's population was reported as younger than 5 years old, 28.1 per cent were between 5 and 25, 51.8 per cent were between 25 and 65, and 14.2 per cent of the population was older than 65. Of this latter group, 4,591 people (3.3 per cent) were over the age of 80. The population was evenly split between females (50.68 per cent) and males (49.32 per cent).
In 2021, there were 1,677 births within the county, and the average age of a first time mother was 30.5.
Urban areas[edit]
The most populous towns in Louth as of the 2022 census were (population in parentheses):
The most populous towns in Louth (2022)
Drogheda(44,135)
Dundalk(43,112)
Ardee(5,478)
Clogherhead(2,275)
Dunleer(2,143)
Termonfeckin(1,983)
Tullyallen(1,697)
Carlingford(1,528)
Dromiskin(1,292)
Castlebellingham(1,232)
Collon(864)
Omeath(778)
Knockbridge(759)
Louth(717)
Tallanstown(668)
Tinure(530)
DroghedaDundalk
Ethnicity and migration[edit]
As of the 2022 census, the population of County Louth was 85.9% white. Those who identified as White Irish constituted 76.7% of the county's population, and Irish Travellers comprised a further 0.7%. Other white people who did not consider themselves ethnically Irish accounted for 8.5% of the population.
The second largest ethnic group in Louth in 2022 was black, accounting for 3.3% of the population. Of this group, virtually the entire population lived in the two largest towns, with 56.5% of Louth's black residents living in Dundalk and 36.2% living in Drogheda.
Those of Asian and Mixed Race backgrounds accounted for 2.7% (3,808 people) and 1.7% (2,333 people) of the population respectively, with the majority of these groups residing in either Drogheda or Dundalk. Around 9,000 people or 6.4% of the population did not state their ethnicity in 2022, a significant increase from 2.5% in the 2016 census.
Louth ethnic composition of population
Racial Composition
2022 Census
Percentage
2016 Census
Percentage
White
119,101
85.9%
116,813
91.5%
Black
4,547
3.3%
3,567
2.8%
Asian
3,808
2.7%
2,399
1.9%
Others including mixed
2,333
1.7%
1,756
1.4%
Not stated
8,918
6.4%
3,176
2.5%
In contrast to the other counties in the Mid-East Region, which are characterised by widespread migration from the Dublin area, Louth has one of the highest proportions of native residents in Ireland. Around two-thirds (64.5%) of Louth's residents were born within the county, making it the 7th most indigenous county in the State. People from elsewhere in the Republic of Ireland accounted for just 13.9% of Louth's population in 2022, compared with 49.2% in neighbouring County Meath to the south. A total of 30,145 people (21.7%) were born outside of the country, up from 24,509 people (19.2%) in 2016.
The largest foreign national groups by citizenship in Louth are: British (1.69%), Polish (1.50 percent), Lithuanian (1.40 percent), Nigerian (0.97 percent), Latvian (0.89 percent) and Romanian (0.57 percent).
Irish language[edit]
The Cooley Peninsula was the last Gaeltacht outpost in Leinster. Speakers of Irish existed around Omeath and into southern Armagh up until the middle of the 20th century. The area had its own local dialect, songs, poetry and traditional customs. The dialect, known as Gaeilge Oriel, is now extinct, as the last native speaker, Anne O'Hanlon, died in 1960 at the age of 89. However, extensive recordings of the dialect were made by German linguist Wilhelm Doegen for the Royal Irish Academy in 1928. An Irish language college, Coláiste Bhríde, was originally established in Omeath in 1912, but later moved to Ranafast, County Donegal. In 2012, Coláiste Bhríde celebrated its 100th anniversary in Omeath, and locals were taught phrases in Gaeilge Oriel.
Uniquely, the Cooley Peninsula had a sizable population of Presbyterian Gaeilgeoirí in the late 18th and 19th centuries, owing to its proximity to Ulster. In 1808, Reverend William Neilson published "An introduction to the Irish language" to distribute to Presbyterian ministers in the area, as many in their congregations could not speak English.
Despite its historic Gaeltacht, Louth has the lowest percentage of Irish speakers of any county in the State. Just 31.8% of the population stated that they could speak any level of Irish in the 2022 census.
Religion[edit]
St. Mochta's House, a 1,000-year-old oratory in Louth village
Religion in Louth (2022)
religion
percent
Catholic
 
72.1%
No religion
 
11.9%
Other Christian
 
6.4%
Islam
 
1.6%
Other faith
 
0.9%
Not Stated
 
6.9%
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Catholic Church is by far the largest religious institution in County Louth, with 100,077 members. Orthodox Christianity was the second largest religious denomination, with 2,598 adherents. This was followed by Islam in third, with 2,281 adherents, and Anglican denominations including the Church of Ireland, England and Episcopalian in fourth, with 2,195.
The county is located within the archdiocese of Armagh in the Roman Catholic Church, and the Archbishop of Armagh has been recognised by the Vatican as the "Primate of All Ireland" since 1353. This was replicated in the Church of Ireland following the Reformation, and the Protestant Diocese of Armagh covers the same territorial extent as the Catholic diocese. Further, the Archbishop of Armagh also has the title of Primate of All Ireland within the Church of Ireland.
As was the case in much of Ireland, there was a significant increase in the number of people stating that they were either non-religious or atheist in the 2022 Census. This demographic has increased by 202% in a little over a decade (2011 to 2022), from 5,485 to 16,556. People with no religion now account for 11.9% of the county's population, up from 8% in 2016.
The fastest growing religions in the county between 2016 and 2022 were Hinduism (107%), Orthodox Christianity (80%) and Pantheism (78%), while the most rapidly declining religions were Lutheran (−23%), Evangelicalism (−19%), Buddhism (−13%) and Apostolic or Pentecostal (−11%). Although Catholicism only recorded a 4.3% decrease, the share of County Louth's residents who identified as Catholic fell sharply from 81.8% in 2016 to 72.1% in 2022.
