CSO releases preliminary findings from 2016 census

The Central Statistics Office has released its preliminary findings from last year's census. It paints a picture of the modern Republic of Ireland and shows the population has grown since 2011 by 3.8% to 4.76million.

Central Statistics Office (cso.ie) infographic.
Click for larger view.

The current rate of population growth is the slowest for more than two decades. However, the population of Dublin grew by 5.8%, Cork by 4.6%, and Galway by 4.2% in the last five years, and only counties Mayo and Donegal showed any decrease in overall numbers.

The total population figure for the 26 counties is up from 3.14million just over a century ago, in 1911, when it was less than half what it had been in 1841.

In 2016, some 78% of the population - 3.7m people - declared themselves as Roman Catholic, a reduction of more than 130,000 since 2011 when 84% stated they belonged to this church.

Meanwhile, slightly less than half a million people (468,400) declared they had no religion. Now representing 10% of the current population (it was 6% in 2011), this 'no religion' group now makes up the second largest 'religious' category in the Republic.

If you like to immerse yourself in these kinds of stats, find yourself a comfy chair and download the Central Statistics Office's 107-page Census 2016 Summary Results Part 1 .