95–100% | |
90–95% | |
50–55% | |
30–35% | |
10–20% | |
5–10% | |
4–5% | |
2–4% | |
1–2% | |
< 1% |
| Islam by country |
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 Islamportal |
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The documented history of Islam in the Republic of Ireland dates back to the 1950s. The number of Muslims in Ireland has increased since the 1990s, [2] [3] mostly through immigration. For the 2022 Irish census, 81,930 were counted. [4]
The earliest mention of Ireland in Muslim sources originates in the works of Al-Idrisi in his Tabula Rogeriana mentioned Irlandah-al-Kabirah (Great Ireland). [5]
The organisational history of Islam in Ireland is complex, not least because of the great variety of ethnic backgrounds of Muslims in the country. [6] The first Islamic Society in Ireland was established in 1959, formed by students studying in Ireland and was called the Dublin Islamic Society (later called the Islamic Foundation of Ireland). [7] At that time there was no mosque in Dublin, so the students used their homes and later rented halls for Jumu'ah (Friday) and Eid (Muslim holiday) prayers. In 1976 the first mosque and Islamic centre in Ireland was opened in a four-storey building at 7 Harrington Street, Dublin 8.[ citation needed ] Among those who contributed to the cost of the mosque and Islamic centre was the late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. In 1981 the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs of Kuwait sponsored a full-time imam for the mosque.[ citation needed ]
In 1983, the present building of the Dublin Mosque and Islamic Centre was bought, renovated and the headquarters of the Society moved from Harrington Street to 163 South Circular Road, Dublin 8.[ citation needed ]
In Cork, prayer halls are located in housing estates. Cork's Muslim community operates out of an industrial estate, while hoping to raise money to build a new mosque. [8]
In 1992, Moosajee Bhamjee became the first (and to date only) Muslim Teachta Dála (Member of Irish Parliament). [9]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 3,873 | — |
| 2002 | 19,147 | +394.4% |
| 2011 | 48,130 | +151.4% |
| 2016 | 63,443 | +31.8% |
| 2022 | 81,930 | +29.1% |
| 2002 census: [10] 2011, 2016 censuses: [11] 2022 census: [4] | ||
According to the 2022 census, there were 83,300 Muslims living in Ireland, [11] representing a 29.1% increase over the figures for the 2016 census, remaining very much a minority. Cities and towns with the highest Muslim population according to the 2022 census are:
The Muslim community in Ireland is diverse and growing rapidly, and its numbers are not determined by the country's history to the same extent as the UK and France, where the majority of Muslims are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from former colonies, or Germany and Austria, where the majority of Muslims are Turkish migrant workers and their descendants. Just over 55 per cent of Muslims were either Asian or African nationals with 30.7 per cent having Irish nationality. [13] The census also revealed that of the 31,779 Muslims resident in Ireland at the time of the census, 9,761 were Irish nationals, less than the number of Asians (10,649) although more than the 6,909 African nationals. The census of 2011 found there were 49,204 Muslims in Ireland, "a sharp rise on five years previously". [14] The Muslim immigration at the end of the 90s was caused by the Irish economic boom and asylum seekers from diverse Muslim countries, and in the 20-year period between 1991 and 2011 the Muslim population increased 1000%, from 0.1% to 1.1% of the population of the republic. [14]
There was an increase in the number of Muslims in every five year age group between 2006 and 2016. There were 147 Muslim males for every 100 females in 2006. This gap narrowed to 129 males per 100 females in 2016. The average age of Muslims in 2016 was 26.0 (compared with the State average of 37.4 years). There were 10,884 children of primary school-going age (5-12 year olds) among the Muslim community in Ireland and a further 5,480 of secondary school age. [15]
Muslims in Ireland are more likely to be married and were less likely to be single compared with the general population. Almost 6 out of 10 were married compared with 4.8 out of 10 for the general population. Divorce is also less prevalent among Muslims compared with the general population. [15]
Just under half (47.3%) of all of Ireland's Muslims lived in County Dublin. Dublin City was home to the largest proportion (15.5%), followed by South Dublin (13.1%), Fingal (12.8%) and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (5.9%). [15]
The economic status of Muslim men and women varied greatly with relatively small numbers of women at work and slightly above average numbers of men looking after the home and family.
Among Muslim men 53.3 per cent were at work in April 2016 with 17.0 per cent unemployed or looking for their first job. In contrast 23.6 per cent of Muslim women were working at the time of the census while a further 1 in 5 (19.5%) were unemployed.
In all 27.4 per cent of Muslim women aged 15 and over were looking after the home or family – significantly higher than the rate for all women at 14.9 per cent. [15]
There were 17,543 Muslims at work. At a broad occupational level, "professional occupations" was the largest category, accounting for 23.5 per cent of workers. Within this category medical practitioners were the largest occupation, with 2,102 workers and accounting for 12.0 per cent of all Muslim workers compared followed by Chefs (1,349). [15]
In 2003, the Islamic Cultural Centre with help from Foras na Gaeilge announced plans to translate the Quran from Arabic into Irish for the first time. [16] The planners found it hard to find speakers of both languages and as of 2018 no translation exists. [17]
In September 2006 an umbrella organisation, the Irish Council of Imams, was established. It represents 14 imams in Ireland, of both the Sunni and Shia traditions. It is chaired by Imam Hussein Halawa (Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland) and its deputy chairman is Imam Yahya Al-Hussein (Islamic Foundation of Ireland). Imam Dr. Umar Al-Qadri (Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre Dublin 15), Imam Salem (Cork Mosque), Imam Khaled (Galway Mosque) and Imam Ismael Khotwal (Blackpits Mosque) are among its founding members.
Source: [18]
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was formally registered in the country in 1992, during the era of the Mirza Tahir Ahmad. Ahmadi Muslims have been in the country since the 1960s. There are two Ahmadiyya mosques in Ireland, one in Galway City, named the Galway Mosque, and one in Lucan, Dublin. The Galway Mosque is purpose built. [21] [22] Most Ahmadi Muslims in Ireland are refugees from countries where they are persecuted.
Some UK-based television channels targeted at the Muslim Community can be accessed in Ireland via satellite including the Sky digital platform.
There are several student Islamic societies in universities all across Ireland especially in the major universities such as UCD, TCD, UCC, NUIG, ISSNI, RCSI, GMIT, ITC, DCU, Dublin Institute of Technology, IT Tralee, IT Tallaght, IT Blanchardstown, DBS. [23]
Yearly events include regular (weekly halaqas & linguistic classes), social (Food festivals), cultural (Eid), Charity drives (Charity week), physical (sports), Academic (speakers tours, lectures, courses, conferences & seminars), Intellectual (debates) and campaigns (Islam awareness & justice).
The Federation of Students Islamic Societies Ireland is an umbrella organisation established in the early millennium (2003) whose mission is to unite, serve and represent Muslim students. [23] It also seeks to bring these students together, to share experiences and to offer help and advice where appropriate, uniting Muslim Students to positively contribute to Irish communities. [23]
Leinster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland.
Portlaoise, or Port Laoise, is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster.
A Gaeltacht is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The Gaeltacht districts were first officially recognised during the 1920s in the early years of the Irish Free State, following the Gaelic revival, as part of a government policy aimed at restoring the Irish language.
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Historically, it has also been known as County Leix.
County Louth is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the north-east, across Carlingford Lough. It is the smallest county in Ireland by land area and the 17th most populous, with just over 139,100 residents as of 2022. The county is named after the village of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county.
Ballyhaunis is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina. Ballyhaunis is within both the Roman Catholic and civil parishes of Annagh.
A regional road in the Republic of Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route, but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres of regional roads. Regional roads are numbered with three-digit route numbers, prefixed by "R". The equivalent road category in Northern Ireland are B roads.
A registration district in the United Kingdom is a type of administrative region which exists for the purpose of civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths and civil partnerships. It has also been used as the basis for the collation of census information.
The Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland is an Islamic complex, including a mosque, in Clonskeagh, Dublin, Ireland. It is funded by the al-Maktoum Foundation of Dubai and has a Sunni orientation.
The Irish Council of Imams is an umbrella organisation for most Islamic establishments in Ireland. Its formation was announced in a press release on 15 September 2006. It represents 35 imams in Ireland, of both the Sunni and Shia denominations, but excludes Ahmadiyya. The chairman is Imam Hussein Halawa, the deputy chairman is Imam Yahya Al-Hussein, and the general secretary is Belkacem Belfedhal. The Council consists of representatives from Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Meath, and Dublin mosques.
The Mid-West is a strategic planning area within the Southern Region in Ireland. It is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland. It consists of the counties of Clare and Tipperary, and the city and county of Limerick. Limerick City is the economic centre of the region. It spans 10,511 km2, 14.95% of the total area of the state and as of the 2022 census, it had a population of 505,369.
The Al-Mustafa Islamic Cultural Centre Ireland, which started its activities as Clonee Mosque, based in the village of Clonee, is the mainstream and leading Islamic Centre in Dublin 15, Ireland. It was established in January 2004 as Clonee Mosque, to act as a place of worship for the Muslim community in Clonee and surrounding areas of Dublin 15.
Muhammad Umar Al-Qadri is a Sunni Islamic scholar and sheikh based in Ireland who was born to a Pakistani Muslim scholarly family. His father is Sunni Muslim scholar Mehr Ali Qadri, who arrived in the late 1970s in The Hague, Netherlands, to serve as an Imam. Al-Qadri is also the Chair of the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council, a national representative Muslim body with a presence in Dublin, Cork, Athlone, Portlaoise and Belfast. He unsuccessfully contested the 2024 European Parliament election for the Dublin constituency and for the Dublin West constituency in the 2024 Irish general election.
Hinduism is a minority religion in Ireland, followed by 0.7% of the country's population. It is also the second fastest-growing religions by percentage in Ireland. There are also a small number of recognised temples in the country.
Ahmadiyya is a community in Ireland under the spiritual leadership of the caliph in London. The Community was formally registered in the country in 1992, during the era of the Fourth Caliphate. Today there are two Ahmadiyya mosques in the country, one of which is purpose-built, representing up to 500 Ahmadis in the country.
The Cork Islamic Cultural Centre (CICC) is an Irish-registered non-profit organisation established to "invite Muslims back to the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah and to educate Non-Muslims about Islam." It opened in October 2013 in an effort to serve the second largest Muslim community in Ireland. The "mega mosque", as it is often called, was constructed with about €800,000 in donations from Qatar.
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