RELIGION: Dramatic drop in Catholic baptisms across island of Ireland

The number of Catholic baptisms on the island of Ireland fell 30 per cent in the decade to last year, according to figures published today by the conservative think tank, the Iona Institute.

Using figures provided by Catholic dioceses, the group found considerable regional variation in the number of baptisms across the country, with a 40.8 per cent drop in the Meath diocese, which covers much of the Dublin commuter belt.

In the Elphin diocese, which covers mainly Co Roscommon, there was a 0.9 per cent increase in baptisms. It is the only Catholic diocese on the island where there was an increase in baptisms over the period between 2015 and 2025.

In Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese, there was a drop of 39.9 per cent in baptisms over the 10 years. In Down and Connor (mainly Antrim and Belfast) the drop was 37.9 per cent.

In Derry, another large Northern Ireland diocese by population, there was a drop of 26 per cent in baptisms over the decade.

The Iona Institute attributes 60 per cent of this decline to falling birth rates.

The institute said, according to figures from the Republic’s Central Statistics Office, in 2016, 78.3 per cent of children aged up to four were recorded as Catholic, with 9.2 per cent as having no religion. By 2022, those figures were 65.4 per cent and 15.6 per cent, respectively.

Almost 68 per cent of mothers of these children marked themselves as Catholic in 2022, with 15.7 per cent as having no religion.

The figures indicate that almost all mothers of 0-4 year-olds who identify as Catholic in Ireland still have their children baptised.

Iona Institute chair Tom Finegan said the figures were “not a surprise” given the rapidly falling number of births and growing secularisation.

“Given that births have fallen by almost a fifth in the last 10 years and more people are ticking the ‘no religion’ box in the census, we could expect nothing but a big drop in baptism figures,” he said.

“Ireland’s fertility rate is now just 1.5, well below the replacement level of 2.1. This should be of concern to everyone, regardless of religious belief,” he said.