For an article on Hinduism specifically in Northern Ireland, see Hinduism in Northern Ireland Hinduism is a minority religion in Ireland, followed by 0.3% of the country's population. It is also the second fastest-growing religions by percentage in Ireland. Despite this, there are only a small number of recognised temples in the country.
History
The vast majority of Welsh Hindus settled in Wales during the second half of the 20th century and came from a number of countries, including India and Uganda. They came in search for economic opportunities, to join family members and/or to seek a safe haven from persecution in their homelands. Today, Wales’ Hindu population is made up of those individuals who came directly from the Indian sub-continent, descendants of those who had originally migrated to other countries but later resettled in Wales, and those born and raised in Wales.
Demographics
The 2016 Irish Census recorded 14,300 Hindu residents in Ireland, making up 0.30% of the population. In the 2016 Irish Census, Hinduism grew by 34% to surpass 14000 people, even faster than Islam. Hinduism now makes up 0.3% of the population, growing 10-fold as a share of the population in 25 years. Hinduism is now the 7th largest Religion, ahead of Pentecostal. According to the 2016 census, there are 87 Hare Krishnas in Ireland, down from 91 Hare Krishna's in 2011 census.
Age and sex
Hindus are younger than the general population with an average age for men of 29.5 and for women 27.3 compared with 36.7 and 38.0 for the general population. There were 132 Hindu men for every 100 Hindu women in 2016, a ratio which has fallen from 157 per 100 ten years earlier.
Profession and Social class
Just over half of Hindus at work were in the broad occupational category 'professional'. Of all Hindus workers 15.0 per cent were programmers and software development professionals.Hindus were more concentrated in the higher social classes than the general population while 40.5 per cent lived in households classified to the managerial or technical class.Fewer relative numbers were found in the skilled manual, semi-skilled and unskilled occupations than for the general population.
Nationality and ethnicity
In all 41.7 per cent of Hindus were of Indian nationality. This was followed very closely by Irish, Mauritian and Nepalese. Of the Hindus with Irish nationality, 35.1 per cent were born in Ireland. The census results show that 79.5 per cent of Hindus declared themselves to be of Asian ethnicity, compared with 80.4 per cent in 2011.
