The 2021 Northern Ireland Census marked the first time since records began where the Catholic share of the population was larger than the combined Protestant share. In 2021, over 42 percent of the population classified themselves as Catholic or from a Catholic background, in comparison with 37 percent classified as Protestant or from a Protestant background. Additionally, the share of the population with no religion (or those who did not answer) was 19 percent; larger than any individual Protestant denomination. This marks a significant shift in demographic and societal trends over the past century, as Protestants outnumbered Catholics by roughly 2:1 when Northern Ireland was established in the 1920s. Given the Catholic community's historic tendency to be in favor of a united Ireland, many look to the changing religious composition of the population when assessing the potential for Irish reunification. Religion's historical influence A major development in the history of British rule in ireland was the Plantation of Ulster in the 1600s, where much of the land in the north (historically the most rebellious region) was seized from Irish Catholics and given to Protestant settlers from Britain (predominantly Scots). This helped establish Protestant dominance in the north, created a large section of the population loyal to the British crown, and saw a distinct Ulster-Scots identity develop over time. In the 1920s, the republican movement won independence for 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, however, the six counties in Ulster with the largest Protestant populations remained part of the UK, as Northern Ireland. Following partition, structural inequalities between Northern Ireland's Protestant and Catholic communities meant that the Protestant population was generally wealthier, better educated, more politically empowered, and had better access to housing, among other advantages. In the 1960s, a civil rights movement then emerged for equal rights and status for both sides of the population, but this quickly turned violent and escalated into a the three-decade long conflict now known as the Troubles.

The Troubles was largely fought between nationalist/republican paramilitaries (mostly Catholic), unionist/loyalist paramilitaries (mostly Protestant), and British security forces (including the police). This is often described as a religious conflict, however it is more accurately described as an ethnic and political conflict, where the Catholic community generally favored Northern Ireland's reunification with the rest of the island, while the Protestant community wished to remain in the UK. Paramilitaries had a large amount of support from their respective communities in the early years of the Troubles, but this waned as the conflict progressed into the 1980s and 1990s. Demographic and societal trends influenced the religious composition of Northern Ireland's population in these decades, as the Catholic community had higher fertility rates than Protestant communities, while the growing secularism has coincided with a decline in those identifying as Protestant - the dip in those identifying as Catholic in the 1970s and 1980s was due to a protest and boycott of the Census. The Troubles came to an end in 1998, and divisions between both sides of the community have drastically fallen, although they have not disappeared completely.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. To collect social, demographic, electoral and linguistic data for each of 118 British and Irish counties in the period 1851 - 1966, in order to study national development in the UK and Ireland. Main Topics: Variables County. Population: growth, proportion aged 65 and over, sex ratio, density, marriage rate, per capita income, proportion in agriculture/manufacturing/middle class/civil service, proportion who were female domestics. Proportion urban, city size, index of ethnic diversity, vote residual and income residual. Proportion voting Conservative, Labour, Liberal, Nationalist Party. Proportion Celtic speakers. Religiosity, literacy. Proportion of Church of England, non-conformists, Roman Catholics. Proportion English born, Welsh born, Scottish, Irish and French. Voting turnout, birth rate, infant mortality rate. See Hechter (AJS 79 2 Sept 1973). Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research. No information recorded Compilation or synthesis of existing material

Approximately ****** prisoners in England and Wales identified as being Christian in 2024, the most of any religious faith among prisoners. A further ****** identified as having no religion, while ****** identified as Muslims.

Transcripts, with glosses and translations, of primary-age children's unguided prayers in Roman Catholic, Church of England and non-faith settings. Analysis of the proportion of religious language used by age groups and by setting. Prayers were gathered as part of a study on the effect of learned religious vocabulary on the language of non-directed prayer in children aged 5 to 11.

This dataset includes a collection of photos, showing the installation and a selection of typical responses illustrating the range of items collected. The file names show where the data was collected and where to find the transcripts.

The first two letters identify the faith-stance of the school: RC = Roman Catholic, CE = Church of England, NF = Non-Faith. The number after yr identifies the school year of the child: yr 1 = age 5 or 6, yr 3 = age 7 or 8, yr 5 = age 9 or 10. The final numbers identify a location in the accompanying transcript: the first number gives the section, and the second the individual entry.

So an image with file name CE yr 3 5-8 shows a response collected in a Church of England school, from a year 3 child, and is listed in the transcripts in section 5, item 8

This table provides Census 2021 estimates that classify people by Country of birth (12 categories) by Religion or religion brought up in for Northern Ireland. The table contains 48 counts.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

notes

1. 'EU' is the European Union and is as defined on census day (21 March 2021).
2. People who gave 'Cyprus' as their country of birth are included within the 'Europe: Other EU countries' category.
3. 'Europe: Other Non-EU countries' includes United Kingdom (part not specified) and Ireland (part not specified).
4. 'Religion' indicates religion, religious denomination or body.
5. 'Catholic' includes those who gave their current religion as Catholic or Roman Catholic.

Quality assurance report can be found here

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates about the religion or religion brought up in of the usual resident population of Northern Ireland, by broad age bands. The estimates are as at census day, 21 March 2021.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

'Religion' indicates religion, religious denomination or body.

'Age' is age at last birthday.

'Catholic' includes those who gave their religion or their religion brought up in as Catholic or Roman Catholic.

Quality assurance report can be found here

During the Troubles, the British government introduced a policy of internment in Northern Ireland, whereby authorities had the power to arrest and detain without trial individuals believed to be associated with paramilitary organizations. Between August 9. 1971 and December 5. 1975, almost 2,000 people were interned by the police and British Army. Around 95 percent of these were from a Catholic background, while the first Protestant internees were not arrested until 1973. Internment was introduced in an attempt to weaken the IRA and other nationalist paramilitary groups, however it had the opposite effect. Mismanagement and outdated information saw hundreds of unaffiliated people interned, some of those interned suffered police brutality and were coerced into confessions, and several anti-internment protests turned into some of the bloodiest days of the Troubles. These factors combined to bolster support for Catholic paramilitaries, who gradually transitioned from using defensive to offensive tactics in the early 1970s, and these groups would go on to be responsible for the largest number of combined deaths during the Troubles.