Malayalam Secures Prominent Place Among Ireland’s Spoken Languages
Dublin: Malayalam has achieved the distinction of becoming the most widely spoken Indian language in Ireland. As a result, Malayalam is now included among the top ten most spoken languages in the country.
Based on the 2022 national census, the count of Malayalam speakers in Ireland stands at 24,674 individuals. It is worth noting that this figure does not account for the additional 40,000 Indian immigrants who have settled in Ireland since April 2022. When we consider the Malayali individuals who arrived in the country during the past year, the Malayalam-speaking community’s numbers may surpass the thirty-thousand mark.
According to the 2022 census in Ireland, a breakdown of the most widely spoken Indian languages and their distribution across various regions is as follows:
1. Hindi is spoken by 13,902 people across the country. In Dublin City, there are 3,705 Hindi speakers, while County Cork has 1,031 Hindi speakers. Additionally, 2,141 people in Dun Laoghaire use Hindi as their language.
2. Tamil is spoken by 5,502 individuals, with no specific regional breakdown mentioned.
3. Telugu has 3,125 speakers, and Punjabi is spoken by 2,537 individuals. Unfortunately, there are no regional details provided for these languages.
4. Urdu, another widely spoken Indian language, is used by 16,307 people in Ireland. However, it’s important to note that this number may include speakers from diverse backgrounds.
5. Bengali is spoken by 6,245 people in the country, with potential variations due to speakers from various origins.
In Dublin City, 2,743 people speak Malayalam, while in the Fingal County Council area, which includes Blanchardstown, there are 3,054 Malayali speakers. South Dublin, encompassing the Lucan and Tallaght areas, is home to 1,763 Hindi speakers and 2,844 Malayalam speakers. Meanwhile, under Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, there are 1,176 Malayalam speakers and 2,141 Hindi speakers.
Beyond Dublin, Malayalam is spoken by 2,516 people in County Cork, while 1,300 Malayalis reside in Galway, with only 580 Hindi speakers.
Limerick boasts a Malayali population of 1,265 and 426 Hindi speakers. Waterford has 784 Malayalam speakers, and Kildare has 1,108. In Wicklow, the count is 644, while Sligo has 245 Malayalam speakers. Donegal is home to 710 Malayalam speakers, while Wexford has 561 and Offaly has 235.
Additionally, Ballyhaunis in Mayo and Ballymahon in Longford have been recognised as towns with diverse populations in Ireland, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) Diversity and Ethnicity figures. Ballyhaunis has a non-Irish population of 37 percent, with 5 percent being Brazilian, 4 percent Polish, and 3 percent Croatian, based on estimates from the 2022 census.
Approximately 12 percent (632,000 people) of Ireland’s population of 5.15 million are non-Irish citizens, as recorded in the April 2022 census. Among these non-Irish citizens, half are EU citizens, and over 83,000 are from the UK.
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