Largest Cities in Ireland 2026: Population Ranking

Ireland's cities at a glance

Updated October 2026

Dots sized by population · Dublin in orange

Ireland has 1 city with more than a million inhabitants and 3 with more than 100,000 (city-proper figures). The largest is Dublin with 1,024,027 people, followed by Cork (224,004) and Limerick (102,287). The three largest cities together hold about 25.1% of the country's 5.4 million people.

The capital, Dublin, is also the largest city.

By region, the most large cities are in Leinster (21), Munster (6), Connacht (2).

Country-level figures — live population, births and deaths, growth, density and history — are on the Ireland population page; provinces, terrain, rivers and society maps are in the Ireland atlas.

Ireland cities by population

30 cities · GeoNames · city proper

#	City	Region	Population	Share of Ireland
1	DublinCapital	Leinster	1,024,027	19.1%
2	Cork	Munster	224,004	4.2%
3	Limerick	Munster	102,287	1.9%
4	Galway	Connacht	85,910	1.6%
5	Tallaght	Leinster	81,022	1.5%
6	Waterford	Munster	60,079	1.1%
7	Drogheda	Leinster	44,135	0.8%
8	Dundalk	Leinster	43,112	0.8%
9	Swords	Leinster	40,776	0.8%
10	Navan	Leinster	33,886	0.6%
11	Bray	Leinster	33,512	0.6%
12	Dún Laoghaire	Leinster	31,239	0.6%
13	Ennis	Munster	27,923	0.5%
14	Carlow	Leinster	27,351	0.5%
15	Douglas	Munster	26,883	0.5%
16	Tralee	Munster	26,079	0.5%
17	Portlaoise	Leinster	23,494	0.4%
18	Athlone	Leinster	22,869	0.4%
19	Droichead Nua	Leinster	22,742	0.4%
20	An Muileann gCearr	Leinster	22,667	0.4%
21	Letterkenny	Ulster	22,549	0.4%
22	Sandyford	Leinster	22,288	0.4%
23	Greystones	Leinster	22,009	0.4%
24	Balbriggan	Leinster	21,722	0.4%
25	Kilkenny	Leinster	21,589	0.4%
26	Wexford	Leinster	21,524	0.4%
27	Naas	Leinster	20,713	0.4%
28	Sligo	Connacht	20,608	0.4%
29	Celbridge	Leinster	20,288	0.4%
30	Finglas	Leinster	19,768	0.4%

Cities with 300,000 or more people link to their own page. The list keeps every city of 100,000+ and at least the 30 largest places of the country.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in Ireland?

Dublin, with about 1,024,027 inhabitants (city proper).

What is the capital of Ireland?

Dublin — population 1,024,027, the largest city in the country.

How many cities in Ireland have over one million people?

1: Dublin.

Are these metropolitan-area populations?

No. They are city-proper figures (the administrative city) from GeoNames, based on the latest census or official estimate. Metropolitan areas, which include suburbs and satellite towns, are larger — often several times larger for the biggest cities.

Explore more

📊 Ireland population & statistics 🗺️ Ireland atlas 🌍 Largest cities in the world

Cities of other countries in Europe

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APA

Glostats. (2026). Largest Cities in Ireland 2026: Population Ranking. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://glostats.com/cities/ireland/

HTML<a href="https://glostats.com/cities/ireland/">Largest Cities in Ireland 2026: Population Ranking</a> — Glostats

Figures on this page may be quoted, charted or republished as long as the page is credited with a link. Terms · Download the data as CSV · Embed a live counter.

City populations are GeoNames figures (CC BY 4.0): the latest official census or estimate for the city proper — the municipality, not the wider metropolitan area — so they can differ from "metro area" numbers you see elsewhere. Country populations are live Glostats estimates from the UN World Population Prospects. Page generated 2026-10-20. More about our data.