The number of Catholics in the country is at its highest level since independence, but those who define themselves as 
having no religion are the fastest growing group, according to Census figures [1] published yesterday by the CSO.
Catholics in the country total 3.8 million, the highest since 1922, but their share of the population, while still very high at 84 percent is the lowest since 1922.
The percentage of Catholics rises to almost 90 percent among Irish-born people.
On the other hand, the number of people who said with no religion has increased more than four-fold between 1991 and 2011 to stand at 277,237 in 2011.
Of these, 7,426 specifically said they were atheist or agnostic. A third of those with no religion are non-nationals.
However, according to a recent Pew Survey in the US showed that many who classified themselves as being non-religious were not necessarily atheist or agnostic.
The survey, published last week, showed that one in five Americans doesn’t belong to any religion.
However, when this group was questioned further, it was found that half considered themselves to be either ‘religious’ or ‘spiritual’, and a fifth pray at least once a month.
Commenting on the new Census figures, David Quinn of The Iona Institute said: “While Census 2011 clearly shows that the number of people living in Ireland who genuinely have no religion is increasingly rapidly, we still have to treat the figures with a certain amount of caution. Not belonging to any particular religion is not the same as being irreligious.”
He continued: “As the Pew Forum survey indicates, ticking the ‘no religion’ box can simply mean a person doesn’t belong to any particular religion, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are purely secular in their thinking, let alone that they are atheists. The fact that half of this group in America say they are religious or spiritual shows this”.
The Census also breaks down those who ticked the ‘no religion’ box by nationality. One-third are non-Irish (to adopt the term used by the Census itself), while the remainder are Irish.
Chinese people living in Ireland were the most likely to tick the ‘no religion’ box (more than 70 percent).
Of the 3.8 million Catholics in Ireland in 2011, 92 per cent were Irish while the remaining 8 per cent belonged to a range of nationalities.
Among the non-Irish, Poles were the biggest group with 110,410 persons, followed by the UK with 49,761 and between them they accounted for over half of all non-Irish Catholics.
There were 19,420 Catholics with Asian nationalities of which Filipinos were the largest group with 10,810 persons followed by Indians with 6,919 persons.