The Glenties area of Donegal recorded one of Ireland’s highest levels of ‘crude deaths’ in 2021, the latest CSO figures show.
There were 235 deaths in the Glenties district three years ago, which is 1,018.4 per 100,000 of the population. This was the third highest in the country and almost double the national crude death rate.
The crude death rate is the number of deaths divided by the population in an area.
Glenties also had one of the oldest populations (average age 42.7), and the average age of those who died in 2021 was 80.1. The Glenties district had the highest rate of crude deaths caused by mental and behavioural disorders which can be due to dementia, amongst other mental and behavioural disorders.
Overall, Donegal recorded 1,292 deaths in 2021. Covid-19 (virus identified and virus unidentified) was listed as the cause of death in 117 cases across all of the county’s districts.
Nationally, the primary causes of deaths were neoplasms ( which can be benign or malignant ) and diseases of the circulatory system.
