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B+Hazard risk Grade
Flood & hazards in Callan · EPA, GSI and OPW data

19% of Callan’s homes stand low beside the King’s River

With an estimated under 0.1% of homes above the radon reference level, among the lower shares, Callan grades B+ for hazard risk, #100 of 321 Irish towns. Its low-lying homes count against it, with radon and landslide ground.

19%of homes low-lyingunder 0.1%of homes over the radon level
In brief

What stands out about Callan’s hazards

From the EPA’s radon map, Geological Survey Ireland’s landslide map, the OPW’s flood relief schemes and our estimate of low-lying homes, below.

A river town19% of homes stand low beside the King’s River: a higher share than in 81% of Irish towns.Low radonAn estimated under 0.1% of homes are above the radon reference level, among the lowest anywhere.Steady groundNo home stands on ground rated high or moderately high for landslides; 36% of Irish towns have some homes on it.
By hazard

What Callan faces

Each hazard against its own yardstick; meters run from low to high on that yardstick.

Low-lying homes

19%of homes low by a big river, lake or the sea
a higher share than in 81% of Irish towns
About 220 homes

Radon

under 0.1%of homes estimated over the reference level
less radon than in 92% of Irish towns
0% of homes in a High Radon Area

Landslides

0%of homes on high or moderately high ground
No home on landslide-prone ground
Rated from the ground and its slope

Ground heights

100%of homes on detailed ground heights
Enough to measure flood (80% needed)
Of 1,171 homes counted
Not on this page: the OPW’s official flood maps and past floods (their licence doesn’t allow reuse here: see floodinfo.ie), groundwater and surface-water flooding, coastal erosion and industrial sites.
Hazard risk Grade

Callan grades B+ for hazard risk

Radon, landslide ground and low-lying homes, each against Irish towns, then averaged.

Radon (under 0.1%)Better than 88% of Irish towns
Landslide ground (0%)Better than 57% of Irish towns
Low-lying homes (19%)Better than 18% of Irish towns · counted against it

Each figure is placed among Irish towns of 1,000 or more people; the grade averages the three, so a better place on each is a better grade.

Flood counts only against a town, and Callan’s share of low-lying homes is high enough to lower its grade.

Its place: #100 of 321 Irish towns.

Less sure: The low-lying figure is our estimate from ground heights and the river map, not an official flood map. It can show a town is low-lying; it can’t show a town is safe.

Low-lying homes

Beside the King’s River, 19% of Callan’s homes stand within a few metres of the water

Low-lying homes, a TownRatings estimate from OPW and Geological Survey Ireland LiDAR ground heights and the EPA’s river map: not an official flood map.

By a river, lake or estuary19%of homes within 5 m of the water’s level
Near the sea0%of homes below 4 m, within 2 km of the sea
Measured in detail100%of homes on detailed ground heights
Where Callan sits among 231 Irish towns
43%None
6%Under 0.5%
4%0.5–1%
7%1–2%
8%2–5%
6%5–10%
8%10–20%Callan
18%20% +

Share of each town’s homes standing low by big water, for the towns measured in detail. 43% have none; Callan has more than 81% of them.

Towns its size: 35th of 40, from the fewest low-lying homes
#TownPeopleLow-lying
1Farranree Cork3,8240%
2Kill Kildare3,8180%
3Enfield Meath3,6630%
…
33Annacotty Limerick3,39818%
34Boyle Roscommon2,91518%
35Callan Kilkenny2,67819%
36Sunday's Well Cork2,80733%
37Ballinacurra Limerick3,71939%
…
39Claddagh Galway2,75591%
40Cork City Centre Cork3,701100%

The 40 Irish towns nearest its size that are measured in detail.

1,171
homes counted
~220
homes standing low by big water
11%
County Kilkenny’s median
0.7%
median of Irish towns

Homes: OpenStreetMap buildings of 30 m² or more, not tagged as non-residential, in the town’s Census 2022 Small Areas. Heights: GSI Open Topographic Data LiDAR (OPW, TII and GSI surveys). Water: EPA river network (rivers of Strahler order 5 or more), lakes, estuaries and coastal waters.

River levels

The River Kings at Callan peaked at 3.01 m in September 2020

Each winter’s highest level (October to September) at the OPW’s Callan gauge, in Callan, since 2007, in metres above the gauge’s zero. Nine days in ten it runs between 0.27 m and 1.25 m.

Each winter’s highest level, metres
Winter 2007–08: highest 2.38 m · 32 days above the normal rangeWinter 2008–09: highest 2.23 m · 43 days above the normal rangeWinter 2009–10: highest 2.42 m on 1 November 2009 · 48 days above the normal rangeWinter 2010–11: highest 2.55 m on 29 October 2010 · 18 days above the normal rangeWinter 2012–13: highest 2.32 m · 32 days above the normal rangeWinter 2013–14: highest 2.07 m · 46 days above the normal rangeWinter 2014–15: highest 2.54 m on 14 November 2014 · 23 days above the normal rangeWinter 2015–16: highest 2.51 m on 29 December 2015 · 54 days above the normal rangeWinter 2016–17: highest 1.86 m · 14 days above the normal rangeWinter 2017–18: highest 2.58 m on 14 March 2018 · 42 days above the normal rangeWinter 2019–20: highest 3.01 m on 28 September 2020 · 51 days above the normal rangeWinter 2020–21: highest 2.05 m · 40 days above the normal rangeWinter 2021–22: highest 2.25 m · 23 days above the normal rangeWinter 2022–23: highest 2.63 m on 28 October 2022 · 56 days above the normal rangeWinter 2023–24: highest 2.42 m on 23 October 2023 · 52 days above the normal rangeWinter 2024–25: highest 2.12 m · 28 days above the normal rangeWinter 2025–26: highest 2.34 m · 50 days above the normal range’19–20’22–23’17–18Record 3.01 m, 2020Top of normal range
2007–082025–26
The highest days on record
  • 28 September 20203.01 m
  • 28 October 20222.63 m
  • 14 March 20182.58 m
  • 29 October 20102.55 m
  • 14 November 20142.54 m
  • 29 December 20152.51 m

Since 2007 the River Kings has run above its usual top on 652 days, most of them in the winters of 2022–23 and 2015–16.

Measured by its highest day, last winter (2025–26) was the 10th-highest of the 17 on record here.

Source: OPW Hydro-Data (waterlevel.ie/hydro-data), Callan gauge (station 15009): daily maximum and mean levels, inspected and provisional data. The usual range is the 5th to 95th percentile of daily means, worked out by TownRatings. Live levels are on waterlevel.ie.

Warnings

Weather and flood warnings for Callan

Where to see the warnings in force, and what this page can’t count.

Met Éireann issues yellow, orange and red warnings for rain, wind and coastal flooding county by county; Callan is covered by County Kilkenny’s.

WarningWhat Met Éireann means by it
YellowWeather that isn’t unusual but can be dangerous in places: be aware.
OrangeInfrequent, dangerous weather that can put people and property at risk: be prepared.
RedRare, extremely dangerous weather: take action to protect yourself and your property.

Met Éireann doesn’t publish an open archive of past warnings, so how often warnings have covered Callan can’t be counted here.

Met Éireann warnings · OPW river levels (waterlevel.ie)

Flood scheme

No OPW flood relief scheme protects Callan

The Office of Public Works’ completed flood relief schemes and the areas each one benefits (OPW open data, CC BY 4.0).

Schemes
0
protect homes in Callan
Protected places in the county
1
Kilkenny
Nearest protected place
15 km
Kilkenny, as the crow flies
Low-lying homes
19%
the share a scheme would be built for

None of the OPW’s completed flood relief schemes has a benefiting area that takes in Callan’s homes. The OPW builds schemes where the risk to homes is greatest, so most towns have none.

In County Kilkenny, an OPW scheme also protects part of Kilkenny.

The protected places nearest here
TownSchemeDesigned forHomes behind itAway
Kilkenny KilkennyKilkenny City (Nore) Flood Relief Scheme1 in 1002.2%15 km
Carrick-on-Suir TipperaryCarrick-on-Suir Flood Relief Scheme1 in 504.3%22 km
Clonmel TipperaryClonmel (North & East) Flood Relief Scheme1 in 1007.4%30 km
Waterford City Centre WaterfordWaterford (Phase 2,3 & 4) Flood Relief Scheme1 in 10010%37 km
Poleberry WaterfordWaterford (Phase 2,3 & 4) Flood Relief Scheme1 in 10012%37 km
Waterford WaterfordWaterford (Phase 2,3 & 4) Flood Relief Scheme1 in 1002.4%38 km

Official flood maps and past floods: floodinfo.ie

Landslides

No home in Callan stands on landslide-prone ground

Geological Survey Ireland’s landslide susceptibility map (1:50,000), read at every home.

Homes on ground rated high or moderately high

CallanCounty Kilkenny’s medianmedian of Irish towns
High or moderately high0%
0%5%

Callan is among the 64% of Irish towns with no home on such ground.

GSI rates ground from low to high by its slope, soil and rock. Most Irish landslides are on steep upland slopes and peat after heavy rain; a town on flat ground has almost none.

High means the ground could slide under the right conditions, such as days of heavy rain on a steep, wet slope; it isn’t a forecast that it will.

GSI landslide susceptibility, high and moderately high classes, share of the town’s homes on mapped ground (CC BY 4.0).

Radon

Callan is in the lowest radon band

The EPA’s radon map: for each 10 km square, the estimated share of homes above the national reference level of 200 Bq/m³.

2.4% of homes estimated above the reference level · 1–5% of homesunder 0.1% of homes estimated above the reference level · Under 1% of homes2.9% of homes estimated above the reference level · 1–5% of homes13% of homes estimated above the reference level · 10–20% (High Radon Area)13% of homes estimated above the reference level · 10–20% (High Radon Area)under 0.1% of homes estimated above the reference level · Under 1% of homes0.2% of homes estimated above the reference level · Under 1% of homes5.5% of homes estimated above the reference level · 5–10% of homes1.6% of homes estimated above the reference level · 1–5% of homes11% of homes estimated above the reference level · 10–20% (High Radon Area)6.1% of homes estimated above the reference level · 5–10% of homes0.7% of homes estimated above the reference level · Under 1% of homes8.4% of homes estimated above the reference level · 5–10% of homes© OpenStreetMap contributors · EPA
Under 1% of homes1–5% of homes5–10% of homes10–20% (High Radon Area)
Share of Irish towns in each band
Under 1% of homes · Callan17%
1–5% of homes38%
5–10% of homes26%
10–20% (High Radon Area)11%
Over 20% (High Radon Area)9%

A square where 10% or more of homes are estimated above the reference level is a High Radon Area; 0% of Callan’s homes are in one. The map is an estimate by area: two neighbouring houses can differ a lot.

0%
of homes in a High Radon Area
9.3%
County Kilkenny’s median
4%
median of Irish towns

A test is the only way to know a home’s level: two detectors, left for three months in a living room and a bedroom.

EPA radon map of Ireland (10 km grid), averaged over the town’s homes (CC BY 4.0).

Industrial sites

No EPA-licensed site within 5 km of Callan: the nearest is 10 km away

Factories, farms, power plants and waste sites that hold an EPA licence for their emissions, in Callan and around its centre.

0
licensed sites inside Callan
0
licensed sites within 5 km of the centre
10 km
to the nearest: Mr T.A. Norton
The nearest licensed site
SiteLicence and activityAway
Mr T.A. NortonIndustrial Emissions licence · intensive farming10 km

An EPA licence sets what a site may release to air, water and land; it doesn’t mark the site as an accident hazard.

Sites holding dangerous substances in bulk come under the COMAH (Seveso) rules, but the HSA’s list of them has no open licence, so upper- and lower-tier sites aren’t counted here.

Source: EPA registers of Industrial Emissions, IPC and waste licences, sites licensed on 31 October 2026; distances in a straight line from the town’s centre.

Neighbours

Hazards in the places around Callan

Low-lying homes, radon and landslide ground, town by town.

KilkennyThomastownKilkennyThomastownCallan
TownLow-lyingRadonLandslides
Callan19%under 0.1%0%
Kilkenny
27,184 · 15 km		3.1%9.3%0%
Thomastown
2,305 · 17 km		10%1.6%1%

Callan has more of its homes standing low by big water than any measured place around it; the next is Thomastown (10%).

A dash under Low-lying: not measured there (too few homes with detailed ground heights), not none.

Be ready

Get ready for what Callan faces

What to do, and what to ask before you move.

When the river rises
  • Never walk or drive through floodwater: 30 cm of moving water can float a car.
  • Move valuables, papers and medicines upstairs.
  • Turn off gas, electricity and water if you’re told to.
Met Éireann warnings · floodinfo.ie
Radon
  • Test over three months, in a living room and a bedroom.
  • Above 200 Bq/m³, a small sump and fan usually fixes it.
  • The EPA sells radon test kits at radon.ie and lists registered contractors who fix high readings.
radon.ie
When a storm is forecast
  • Bring in or tie down bins, trampolines and anything the wind can lift.
  • Keep away from coastal paths and piers while an orange or red warning is in force.
  • Charge phones and keep a torch: fallen lines are the commonest storm damage.
  • After the storm, report a fallen line to ESB Networks and keep well clear of it.
ESB Networks PowerCheck
Before you buy or rent in Callan
  • Ask whether the home has ever flooded, and get a buildings insurance quote before you commit: flood cover isn’t always offered.
  • Ask the seller or landlord for a radon test result, or test in your first months there.
  • Check the address on floodinfo.ie: the OPW’s flood maps and its record of past floods.
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • An estimate, not a flood map. Low-lying homes is a TownRatings modelling step: each home’s ground height from LiDAR, against the level of the nearest big river (Strahler order 5 or more), lake or estuary within 1 km, or the sea within 2 km. A home within 5 m of the water’s level, or below 4 m near the sea, counts.
  • Flood counts only one way. A high share of low-lying homes lowers the Hazard risk Grade; a low share never raises it, because defences, small streams, culverts, groundwater and flash floods don’t show in ground heights. Below the national median a town scores as the median.
  • Defences aren’t counted. Flood defences aren’t taken off: the OPW scheme that protects the most homes is shown instead, with its design standard.
  • Measured where the heights are detailed. A town is measured, and counted, only where 80% of its homes stand on LiDAR heights. Elsewhere the page says flooding isn’t measured, never that the town is dry.
  • Radon is an estimate by area. The EPA’s radon map gives the estimated share of homes above 200 Bq/m³ for each 10 km square, averaged here over the town’s homes. It says where to test, not what one house holds.
  • The sea is measured by height. Homes count as low by the sea when their ground is under 4 m and within 2 km of coastal or estuary water; waves, surges and erosion aren’t modelled.
  • Landslide ground is a map of where slides could start. GSI’s susceptibility map rates the ground itself; it doesn’t record past slides or say when one will happen.
  • Bathing water is rated season by season. The EPA classes each identified bathing water from four seasons of samples; a rating says how clean the water has been, not how safe it is to swim.
  • One town, many streets. Risk is street by street. Check a specific address on floodinfo.ie before you buy or rent.

Check any address against the OPW’s official flood maps on floodinfo.ie

Questions about flooding and hazards in Callan

Does Callan flood?

About 19% of Callan’s homes stand low beside the King’s River: a higher share than in 81% of Irish towns. That is our estimate from ground heights, not an official flood map. For a single address, the OPW’s official flood maps and past floods are on floodinfo.ie.

Is radon a problem in Callan?

The EPA’s map estimates that about under 0.1% of homes around Callan are above the radon reference level of 200 Bq/m³: a lower share than in 92% of Irish towns. 0% of its homes are in a High Radon Area. The only way to know a house is a three-month test.

Is Callan at risk of landslides?

No home in Callan stands on ground rated high or moderately high for landslides.

Is Callan at risk from the sea?

None of Callan’s homes stands below 4 m within 2 km of the sea, so the sea plays no part in its share of low-lying homes; 19% stand low by rivers, lakes and estuaries.

How does Callan compare with the places around it?

Radon estimates around Callan run from 1.6% in Thomastown to 9.3% in Kilkenny; Callan’s own is under 0.1%. Among the places measured in detail, Thomastown has the largest share of homes standing low (10%).

How is Callan’s Hazard risk Grade worked out?

Callan grades B+: radon, landslide ground and low-lying homes are each placed among Irish towns, and the grade averages them.

Flood: TownRatings’ estimate from ground heights, not an official flood map. Contains Irish Public Sector Data (Geological Survey Ireland, the Office of Public Works and the EPA) licensed under CC BY 4.0; Copernicus DEM © DLR e.V. and © Airbus, provided under COPERNICUS by the EU and ESA; © OpenStreetMap contributors. Radon and bathing water: EPA (CC BY 4.0). Landslide susceptibility: Geological Survey Ireland (CC BY 4.0).

Sources: low-lying homes: TownRatings’ estimate from GSI and OPW LiDAR, Copernicus GLO-30 and the EPA river network · radon: EPA radon map · landslides: GSI landslide susceptibility · river levels: OPW Hydro-Data (waterlevel.ie/hydro-data) · industrial sites: EPA licence registers · the grade: TownRatings, from these figures. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).

Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).