Athlone pips Mullingar as county's largest town

Athlone is the largest town in Westmeath, according to the new Census figures.

Athlone had a population of 22,869 in April 2002, just 202 more than Mullingar.

However, Portlaoise, with a population of 23,494 is the largest town in the midlands.

The Athlone figure includes the population of the urban area of the town, living within the local authority area of Roscommon.

The figures make Athlone the 19th largest urban settlement in the country (including cities), and the 14th largest town.

Moate is the fourth largest town in Westmeath, with a population of 3,013, behind Kinnegad (3,064). Kilbeggan makes up the top five, with a population of 1,575.

Of Westmeath with a population of at least 500 people in April 2022, Kinnegad was the youngest, with an average age of 34.1 years. The oldest was Castlepollard, with an average age of 39.3 years. Nationally, the average age was 38.8 years.

In April 2022, 52% of Westmeath’s usual residents (50,115 people) were born in the county. A further 29% (27,937) were born elsewhere in the State. The remaining 18% (17,565) were born outside the State, which was up from 16% in 2016. Nationally, 20% of the usually resident population in April 2022 was born outside of the State.

The figures released today show that Drogheda is the country's largest town, with a population of 44,135, followed by Dundalk, Swords, Navan and Bray, in the top 5.

Interestingly, the only towns in Ireland with populations above 30,000 were in Leinster. The largest town in Munster was Ennis with a population just under 28,000, Letterkenny was the largest in Ulster with 22,500 people, and Sligo was the largest town in Connacht with just over 20,500 people.