One of the most remarkable aspects of the Catholic story in Ireland is its recent transformation from the country with perhaps the highest rate of Catholic practice to a country where Catholic life is spoken about in the past tense. Many Irish under age 60 identify themselves as “Catholic but not religious.” In very many ways, Ireland looks fairly secular today, but no one disputes the emphasis on sacraments, and devotional qualities of Irish Catholicism endure today. Read more...
National Demographics
Religious Affiliation
Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
Note: The Catholic Church's Ireland data amalgamates statistics for both the Republic of Ireland and the six counties comprising Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
Total Population
4,803,748 1
Urban
63.20% 1
Rural
36.80% 1
Immigrants as % of Population
15.9% 2
Homicides
0.64 per 100,000 people (global median 6.9) 3
Level of Public Corruption
19 (1=lowest, 176=highest corruption) 4
Gender Equality in the Economy, Health, Education and Politics
6 (1=most equal, 144=least equal) 7
Fertility Rate
2.01 births per adult woman 5
Children Who Do Not Live to Age 5
0.40% 5
Life Expectancy at Birth
81 years 5
Internet Users
80% 5
Gross National Income per Capita
US$46,550 5
Catholic Demographics
These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.
Baptized Catholics
5,630,000
Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
76.08
Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
42,747
Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
487
First Communions per Year
59,516
Confirmations per Year
65,887
Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
527,129
Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
352,808
Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
36,016
Church Marriages per Year
6,540
Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition.
2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 revision.
3 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Homicide Statistics 2015.
4 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
