‘It’s almost like you’re shunned if you go to Mass’: Ireland’s dwindling young Catholics

There was a 187% increase in the number of people stating they had no religion in Census 2022 compared with 2011 while people aged 25 to 29 in particular are less likely to be Roman Catholic (53%) than other age groups

Áine Blackwell at St Saviour's Domincan Church, Limerick City. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

For the first few years of Áine Blackwell’s time in secondary school, she had a secret — she was a practising Catholic.

She and her siblings were a rarity in that they prayed, went to Mass, and genuinely had a deep relationship with their faith, sometimes resulting in her feeling like an outsider.