Population classified by religion, 2002 and 2006



Population classified by religion, 2002 and 2006

|Religious Denomination |2002 |2006 |% change 2002-2006 |

|Roman Catholic |3,462,606 |3,681,446 |6.3% |

|Church of Ireland (inc. |115,611 |125,585 |8.6% |

|Protestant) | | | |

|Muslim (Islamic) |19,147 |32,539 |69.9% |

|Christian (unspecified) |21,403 |29,206 |36.5% |

|Presbyterian |20,582 |23,546 |14.4% |

|Orthodox |10,437 |20,798 |99.3% |

|Methodist |10,033 |12,160 |21.2% |

|Apostolic or Pentecostal |3,152 |8,116 |157.5% |

|Buddhist |3,849 |6,516 |67.3% |

|Hindu |3,099 |6,082 |96.3% |

|Lutheran |3,068 |5,279 |72.1% |

|Evangelical |3,780 |5,276 |39.6% |

|Jehovah’s Witness |4,430 |5,152 |16.3% |

|Baptist |2,265 |3,338 |47.4% |

|Jewish |1,790 |1,930 |7.8% |

|Pantheist |1,106 |1,691 |52.9% |

|Agnostic |1,028 |1,515 |47.4% |

|Latter Day Saints (Mormons) |833 |1,237 |48.5% |

|Atheist |500 |929 |85.8% |

|Quaker (Society of Friends) |859 |882 |2.7% |

|Lapsed Roman Catholic |590 |540 |-8.5% |

|Baha’i |490 |504 |2.9% |

|Brethern |222 |365 |64.4 |

|Other stated religions |8,920 |8,576 |-3.9% |

|No religion |138,264 |186,318 |34.8% |

|Not stated |79,094 |70,322 |-11.1% |

| | | | |

|Total |3,917,203 |4,239,848 |8.2% |

Source: The Irish Examiner, 30th March 2007 p9

Although Roman Catholicism has grown to 3,681,336 in 2006 its share of all religious groups actually fell from 88.4% to 86.8%

Other changes of significance:

▪ Muslims are now the third largest religious category since 2002, moving up from 5th place. In 2006 32,539 Muslims lived in Ireland, a near 70% increase in the number of Muslims here since 2002

▪ The second largest grouping is people with no religion. 186,318 said they had no religion in 2006, a rise in ⅓ since 2002

▪ Church of Ireland believers have increased in numbers to over 125,000

▪ Significant growth in numbers has occurred among several smaller non-Christian based religions e.g. Hinduism has nearly doubled to over 6,000; Buddhism has increased by 67% to over 6,500 followers

▪ The biggest percentage increase in numbers was among the Apostolic or Pentecostal believers, rising 158% to over 8,000

▪ Catholics consisted of 3.4 million Irish people, 54,214 British, 112,806 the rest of the EU as well as 13,229 US and 12,443 Asian. 213,412 non-Irish people declared themselves Catholics. Non-Irish Church of Ireland believers were mostly from Britain

Source: The Irish Examiner, 30th March 200,7 p9

“Baha’i is one of Ireland’s smallest religions, with only 504 members. A popular religion in India, it forbids drinking, gambling and drugs as well as homosexuality. There are 929 atheists in the State, but some 186,318 people who say they have no religion. There are now over 5,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ireland as well as over 1,200 Mormons and 882 Quakers. The numbers of male Muslims (19,372) is significantly larger than female Muslims (13,167). There are nearly 60,000 more female Catholics than males”.

Source: The Irish Examiner, 30th March 200,7 p8

“The belief that God is present in everything, from the largest tree to the tiniest amoeba, is on the increase in Ireland, according to the latest census figures. The people who hold this belief – and their ranks include such romantic poets like Shelley and Keats – describe their religion as pantheist and their Irish congregation rose from 1,106 in 2002 to 1,691 last year – a jump of almost 53%. Other religions on the rise in Ireland include Hinduism – up by 96% since 2002, to 6,082 – and Orthodox Christianity which was up by 99.3%. Even atheism and agnosticism are becoming more prevalent with rises of 85.8% and 47.4% respectively in the amounts of non-believers”.

Source: The Irish Examiner, 31st March 2007, (Conor Kane)

“The overall changes, CSO officials say, have been clearly influenced by recent trends in migration. A total of 186,300 people – representing 4.4% of the population – reported having no religion. This is an increase of 34% over the last four years…A total of 92% of Irish nationals said they were Roman Catholics, compared to 51% for non-Irish nationals. The religious grouping with the highest proportion of non-Irish followers was Orthodox (84%), with its members coming mainly from Eastern Europe. Muslims, with 68% of its followers foreign nationals, were mainly African and Asian extraction. Despite an increase in the numbers of Roman Catholics, driven largely by people from Eastern Europe, its overall share fell from 88.4% of all religious followers to 86.8%. It recorded the lowest proportion increase for any religion over the last four years with an increase of 6%. It was followed by the Church of Ireland, which recorded an 8.7% increase”.

Source: The Irish Times, 30th March 2007 (Carl O’ Brien)

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