Famous Donegal GAA town had lowest birth rate in Ireland

A Donegal town has recorded the least births in the country for a single year.

Latest statistics released by the Central Statistics Office shows Glenties had the lowest birth rate in the country.

The statistic might not worry the up and coming underage teams at the brilliant Naomh Conaill GAA club, home of Donegal manager Jim McGuinness.

But the town had the lowest birth rate in 2022, at just 7.4 per 1,000 of population.

Of the 54,483 births which occurred in 2022 in Ireland, the North Inner City, Dublin City had the highest number of births at 701.

In 2022, the birth rate per 1,000 of population was highest in Tallaght South, South Dublin at 13.7.

The fertility rate for women 15-49 years of age was highest in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford with 57.0 births per 1,000 women, and lowest in Galway City Central, Galway City with 27.8 per 1,000 women in 2022.

There were 35,804 deaths across Ireland in 2022 with Artane-Whitehall, Dublin City, recording the highest proportion of deaths at 1.5% or 553 deaths.

Belmullet, Co. Mayo was the LEA with the highest crude death rate per 1,000 at 11.5 deaths per 1,000 of population, while Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Fingal recorded the lowest at 2.8.

In terms of cause of death, Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim had the highest crude death rate due to diseases of the circulatory system, which encompass heart attacks and strokes, at 361.7 per 100,000, while Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Fingal had the lowest at 66.8 per 100,000 for this cause of death.

In 2022, 15 out of 166, or 9% of Ireland’s LEAs experienced a negative natural increase, which is when more deaths are recorded than births. These areas included LEAs in Dublin (3), Kerry (3), Mayo (2), and Clare, Cork, Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, and Wexford (all 1).

Famous Donegal GAA town had lowest birth rate in Ireland was last modified: August 5th, 2025 by Staff Writer

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