Catholic baptisms fall sharply in Cork as births and religious affiliation decline

New research attributes the decline to falling birth rates and secularisation, while highlighting continued cultural Catholic identity among parents

The report also shows that there was a 23.1% decrease in Catholic baptisms in the Diocese of Cork and Ross over the same period. Picture: iStock

The number of Catholic baptisms in the Diocese of Cloyne fell by 30% over the decade from 2015 to 2025, according to new figures published by the Iona Institute.

Using figures obtained from Catholic dioceses, the report also shows that there was a 23.1% decrease in Catholic baptisms in the Diocese of Cork and Ross over the same period.

The Iona Institute study found that in the ten-year period from 2015 to 2025, the number of Catholic baptisms on the island of Ireland fell by 30%.

The research found that the two main drivers of the decline are falling births and rising secularism, with falling births accounting for about 60% of the decline and secularisation accounting for the rest.

In Dublin, there was a 39.9% reduction in baptisms over the period from 2015 to 2025, with the number of baptisms in Meath over the same period dropping by 40.8%.

The Diocese of Kerry also saw a 22.3% reduction in baptisms over the same ten-year period.

The Diocese of Down & Connor, which contains the city of Belfast, also recorded a significant fall in baptisms, at 37.9%.

The Diocese of Elphin, which covers parts of the counties of Roscommon, Sligo, Galway and Westmeath, was the only Catholic diocese on the island where there was an increase in baptisms between 2015 and 2025, at 0.9%.

Fall in Catholic identification among young children 

The Iona Institute also referenced figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which showed that in 2016, 78.3% of children aged 0-4 were recorded in the census as Catholic, with 9.2% recorded as having no religion.

By 2022, these figures had changed to 65.4% and 15.6% respectively.

Dr Tom Finegan, chairman of the Iona Institute, said that the figures are 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 ten years and more people are ticking the ‘No Religion’ box in the census, we could expect nothing but a big drop in baptism figures.

“However, the figures also show that ‘cultural Catholicism’ remains strong on the island.

“We see that as at census 2022, 67.9% of mothers with children aged 0-4 still identified as catholic, even though a big majority of these would not be regular mass goers.” 

Dr Finegan also noted that, according to the Vatican yearbook, more than 42,000 Catholic children were baptised in Britain in 2023, “even though levels of mass attendance in Britain are low". 

“The fall in baptisms must be seen not simply as the result of secularisation, but even more as a result of falling births.

"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.”