Four Mayo villages see population fall amid county-wide population rise

JUST four Mayo villages have recorded a decline in their population since 2016.

According to figures from the 2022 and 2016 censuses, Belcarra, Shrule, Louisburgh and Bohola have witnessed a decline in their population.

The area encompassing Shrule village saw the largest fall of any Mayo settlement with a population of over 200 people, falling from 432 in 2016 to 362 in 2022.

Louisburgh recorded 367 people, 67 less than the 434 recorded in the 2016 census.

Belcarra saw its population fall from 228 to 164 while Bohola’s fell from 203 to 143.

Every other town and village in Mayo with a population of over 200 saw their population rise between 2016 and 2022.

The overall population of Mayo grew by 6 percent to 137,970 last year’s census, meaning the number of people in the county rose by 7,463 between April 2016 and April 2022.

The figures recorded in the census count the number of people present in a dwelling on April 3, 2022.

As a result, residents who are away may be excluded while visitors not normally resident in a household may be included in the figures.

Castlebar saw the largest total increase in population, rising by 894 people from 12,068 to 13,054.

Castlebar Primary School also has the largest enrolment of any primary school in Mayo, with 787 boys and girls enrolled this academic year.

Local representative Michael Kilcoyne told The Mayo News yesterday (Monday) that not enough houses were being built to cope with the demand resulting from the rise in population.

Cllr Kilcoyne also said that private and public services such as medical care and tradespeople were ‘really tight’ in the town.

Ballina remains Mayo’s second-largest town, with 10,556 compared to 10,171 in 2016 while Westport remains the third largest settlement with 6,872 people – an increase of 674 on 2016.

Ballinrobe was home to 3,148 people in 2022 – up from 2,786 in 2016 – while Claremorris’s population rose from 3,687 to 3,857.

Smaller towns across Mayo all recorded notable rises in population, with Crossmolina now being home to 1,134 people while Foxford’s population has risen from 1,315 to 1,452.

Charlestown added an extra 139 people to record a population of 1,172 in the 2022 census while the village of Knock is now home to over 1,000 people, rising from 972 to 1,029.

Kiltimagh’s population rose from 1,069 to 1,232; Swinford rose from 1,394 to 1,459 while Belmullet recorded a steady rise from 1,019 to 1,042.