Catholic Church in Ireland
In the 2016 Irish census 78.3% of the population identified as Catholic in Ireland; numbering approximately 3.7 million people. Unlike Catholics in the United States, Ireland has seen a significant decline from the 84.2% who identified as Catholic in the 2011 census.
Quiet Revolution (Republic of Ireland)
During the 21st century, census data has revealed decreases in religious activity in the Republic of Ireland, most prominently in recent years. Christianity, dominated by the Roman Catholic Church remains the largest in Ireland, with 78.8% of citizens identifying as Catholic as of 2016. The next largest group are non-believers – people who declare that they are not religious – which accounts for 10% of the population as of 2016. In comparison to data collected in 2011, these figures show a clear positive trend in the decline of religious gravity in the country. The census data from only 5 years earlier reports 84% of the population identifying as Catholic and only 6% as not religious. As acknowledged by scholar Louise Fuller in her piece, "Contemporary Catholicism in Ireland: a critical appraisal," 2010, many of those who currently identify as Catholic in Ireland do not consider the Church's message relevant to their everyday practice. The census statistics acknowledge the growing existence of other religious attitudes in Ireland. The data represents the accommodation of other religions and their expression of religious freedom, as well as ideologies separate from religion in the Republic of Ireland.