Photo: A.-K. D. · CC BY-SA 4.0In Callan, 4.8% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 89% of Irish towns
In Callan, 77% of residents said they are Catholic, beside 71% across Ireland’s towns. Households of parents with children: 48% of the total. Few places have so few shared households of unrelated adults: 3.2% here, fewer than in 78% of Irish towns. The 2022 Census put the town’s population at 2,678, in 952 households.
Since 2016, Callan has grown +12%, faster than 75% of Irish towns
Residents at the 2016 and 2022 censuses, on 2022 boundaries, and the change beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Change, 2016 to 2022
CSO publishes yearly population estimates for counties and regions, not towns, so the trend is two censuses rather than a line; 2016 ages aren’t on 2022 boundaries, so there is no change by age.
Elsewhere, the median is +8% across Ireland’s towns and +4% across Co. Kilkenny’s towns.
Fewer young people than 73% of Irish towns: 11% are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 10–14, with 8.8% of residents. The median age in Callan is 37.6, lower than in 51% of Irish towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Ireland’s towns. In Graiguenamanagh-Tinnahinch, the oldest of Co. Kilkenny’s towns by this measure, it is 22%.
Median age of Irish towns of 2,500+
■ Callan, 37.6. The typical town is 37.6.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Co. Kilkenny 51.2%, Ireland 51.2%.
31% of residents belong to the professional, managerial and technical classes
CSO’s social classes (everyone, by their own or their family’s occupation), the occupations of those at work, and where residents lived a year before the Census.
Residents by social class · all residents
Where residents lived a year earlier
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Workers by occupation · residents at work
Among the working population, caring, leisure and other services make up 15%, against a typical 8.3%. Residents who moved in within the year: 7% of the total.
2.7 people per household, more than in 54% of Irish towns
Private households by CSO’s family types, beside the county’s towns and Ireland’s.
Against Co. Kilkenny’s towns and Ireland’s towns
People per household
Ireland’s towns.
One-person households account for 25%.
95% of homes are houses
Home types, cars and the internet, by household. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Internet at home · share of households
There is little gap on holiday homes: 0.6%, about the same as across Ireland’s towns. Census figures put households without a car or van at 17% in Callan.
€51,330 a year is the median household income here
Household income in 2022 from CSO’s linked administrative data (GPIIA): the middle household’s income before and after tax.
A median gross household income of €51,330 sits 15% below Ireland (€60,120). In Co. Kilkenny overall, the median comes to €58,190.
Fewer residents born outside Ireland than 52% of Irish towns: 21%
Place of birth and citizenship as CSO asks them: born abroad includes Irish citizens born abroad.
Born abroad, by birthplace · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizenship · share of all residents; the bar runs to 30%
Citizens of another country, by citizenship; CSO counts dual Irish citizens as Irish.
Other languages · share of all residents
CSO’s small-area tables don’t give the year people arrived.
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are elsewhere in the EU (6.7%) and in the UK (5.1%). Across Ireland’s towns, 22% of residents were born outside Ireland. Residents with another country’s citizenship are about as common here as across Ireland’s towns, at 15%.
0.5% of residents speak Irish daily outside education, fewer than in 96% of Irish towns
Residents aged 3 and over who can speak Irish, and how often they speak it outside education (CSO).
Irish speakers · residents aged 3 and over
Speakers of Irish: 887 residents, 38% of those aged 3 and over. By way of comparison, 1.1% of residents speak Irish daily outside education across Ireland’s towns. The highest share in Co. Kilkenny belongs to Kilkenny (1.3%).
A smaller share of residents with no religion than 79% of Irish towns: 13%
Ethnic or cultural background and religion, in CSO’s categories, as people described themselves.
Ethnic groups other than White Irish · all residents
White Irish, not charted: 79% of Callan · Co. Kilkenny’s towns 86% · Ireland’s towns 78%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 78% across Ireland’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White Irish in Callan comes in at 79%. For comparison, 17% of residents said they have no religion across Ireland’s towns.
In Callan, 33% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 61% of Irish towns
Marital status of residents 15 and over, and unpaid carers.
Partnership status · residents 15 and over
The small-area tables count carers, not their hours of care.
The share of unpaid carers stands at 5.2%. 57% of Callan’s residents 15 and over are single and 33% married, against 56% and 34% across Ireland’s towns.
A smaller share of adults with a degree or higher than 71% of Irish towns: 27%
Highest level of education completed, residents 15 and over whose education has ended.
Highest qualification · residents 15+ whose education has ended
A postgraduate qualification is the highest level for 7.4% of adults; primary level or less for 13% (Ireland’s towns: 9.7%). Adults with a degree or higher make up 36% across Ireland’s towns.
In its size band (2,510 to 3,211), the 16th youngest of 41 towns
Median age of the Irish towns nearest in population; hover a dot.
The youngest is Kilbarry (30.4) and the oldest Ballybrack (45.5). Nearest to Callan in age: Carndonagh (37.4), Ballinrobe (37.6), Kanturk (37.9) and Gort (38).
Callan is younger than every town around it
The nearest places, coloured by median age; each is a census urban area.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Parents with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Callan | 2,678 | — | 37.6 | 14% | 48% |
| Kilkenny | 27,184 | 15.4 km | 38.9 | 15% | 39% |
| Thomastown | 2,305 | 16.7 km | 40.6 | 15% | 49% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Against Co. Kilkenny’s towns and Ireland’s towns. Co. Kilkenny has fewer than five towns of 2,500 or more, so its figure is the median of its towns of 1,000 or more; the national figure is the median of the Irish towns of 2,500 or more (city totals left out). Percentiles are within Ireland only.
- The earlier population is an estimate. Towns had no official 2016 count on today’s boundaries, so the 2016 figure is CSO’s electoral-division count shared out by where people lived in 2022: read a small town in a large rural division loosely.
- What these tables don’t give. The small-area tables give no year of arrival and no hours of care, and a town’s electoral divisions run past its edge, so the page doesn’t split a town into named areas (a city lists its neighbourhoods).
- The census’s own words. Born abroad, citizenship, ethnic or cultural background and religion are CSO’s questions and categories; the page compares them with other towns and never labels a town by them.
Questions about Callan’s residents
What is the population of Callan?
Callan had 2,678 residents at the 2022 Census, counted within its urban area, 12% more than 2016.
What is the average age in Callan?
The median age is 37.6, younger than 51% of Irish towns. 28% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many people speak Irish in Callan?
38% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Irish (887 people), and 0.5% speak it every day outside education, against a typical 1.1% across Ireland’s towns.
How diverse is Callan?
79% describe themselves as White Irish (Ireland’s towns: 78%); 21% were born abroad and 15% are citizens of another country.
What religion are people in Callan?
77% are Catholic, 13% have no religion and 9.9% another religion; 7.9% didn’t say.
Is Callan good for families?
48% of households are parents with children (Ireland’s towns 43%), and 28% of residents are under 18. Schools near Callan are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Callan?
Median gross household income in Callan was €51,330 in 2022, against €58,190 across Co. Kilkenny and €60,120 for Ireland.
Sources: CSO, Census of Population 2022, Small Area Population Statistics · CSO PxStat FP009 (2016 by electoral division) · CSO GPIIA, household income 2022. 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).