Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
52 of its buildings are on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. With 3,403 residents, it is a town in Co. Offaly.
Housing is within reach (A+): buying the median home, at €185,000, takes 3.9 times the town’s median household income. Overall, Clara earns a B: better than nearly three fifths of Irish towns, and #132 of 320 Irish towns. It also does well on safety — 3.5 violent crimes and 4.2 burglaries and acts of criminal damage recorded per 1,000 residents a year. Health outcomes fall short of most towns: bad health runs at 154 and disability at 125 per 100 expected for its ages.
Figures: prices, Property Price Register, 2023 to 2025 · incomes, CSO · crime, CSO recorded crime, 2023 to 2025 · health, CSO Census 2022.
Health less sure: few enough residents report bad health that the town's figure could be well above or below its true level.
The 3 things Clara does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Clara with Irish towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades Irish towns →
The record adds 2 archaeological sites.
Homes built before 1919: 8%, against 3% across Irish towns.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Clara.
Social housing holds 18% of households, higher than both Co. Offaly’s towns (15%) and Irish towns (13%). Households that own their home make up 68%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Second-hand homes | €185,000 | 102 |
| The last 12 months | €275,000 | 41 |
| Housing | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | €185K | €265K | €350K |
| Households renting privately | 12% | 25% | 22% |
| Rent on a new tenancy, a month | €1,104 | €1,270 | €1,606 |
| Households owning their home | 68% | 57% | 61% |
Property Price Register · CSO residential prices by Eircode area · RTB rents · CSO, Census 2022 tenure
At the census, 86% of people in Clara called their health good or very good, near Co. Offaly’s towns (86%) and lower than Irish towns (88%). 27% of residents in Clara live with a disability. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 2.8% of the town.
| Census 2022 | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| With a disability | 27% | 24% | 22% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.8% | 2.7% | 2% |
| Good or very good health | 86% | 86% | 88% |
| Unpaid carers | 5.9% | 5.9% | 5.4% |
CSO, Census 2022 general health, disability and carers · CSO life expectancy by region, 2016 · HSE medical cards, 2024 · TownRatings age-standardised ratios
Unemployment stood at 12%, lower than Co. Offaly’s towns (12%) yet higher than Irish towns (9.2%). Working from home was the norm for 5.7% of workers at the census. Getting to work takes 23.1 min on average.
| Census 2022 | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In work, 15 to 64 | 61% | 63% | 68% |
| Trips under 15 minutes | 49% | 51% | 31% |
| Average trip | 23.1 min | 24.3 min | 27.6 min |
| Median household income | €47,072 | €53,484 | €57,760 |
CSO, Census 2022 travel to work, work and education · CSO Geographical Profiles of Income 2022 · Live Register · Census day was 3 April 2022, with working from home still common; shares are of those who travelled.
For its size, Clara records less crime per resident than four fifths of the 201 Irish towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. More of the graded crimes here were assaults and harassment than anything else (2023–2025). Thefts came to 2.2 per 1,000 a year (not part of the grade), below both Co. Offaly’s towns (10) and Irish towns (15.3).
Not in the gradeTheft, public order and offences found by Garda checks (drugs, road traffic, dangerous acts) are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence, burglary and damage.
| Per 1,000 a year | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary & damage | 4.2 | 6.9 | 6.4 |
| Violent crime | 3.5 | 6.4 | 5.7 |
| Theft | 2.2 | 10 | 15.3 |
CSO recorded crime by Garda station, 2023–2025, shared to towns by where residents live · Census 2022 populations
For secondary school, the closest is Ardscoil Chiaráin Naofa, 0.3 km from the town. 3 schools lie within 3 km of Clara: 2 primary schools and 1 secondary school. Since 2019/20, pupils changed −5%, lower than both Co. Offaly’s towns (+1%) and Irish towns (+4%).
| School | Level | Pupils | Ethos |
|---|---|---|---|
| S.N. Phroinsiais Naofa DEISLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 186 | Catholic |
| Ardscoil Chiaráin Naofa DEISLargest post-primary schoolPost-primary · ETB | Post-primary · ETB | 333 | Multi-denominational |
| Clara Convent N.S. DEISIn the DEIS schemePrimary | Primary | 180 | Catholic |
| Schools within 3 km | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| In the DEIS scheme | 100% | 57% | 35% |
| Teach through Irish | 0% | 14% | 8% |
| Pupils since 2019/20 | −5% | +1% | +4% |
| Single-sex secondaries | 0% | 0% | 39% |
Department of Education school lists, 2025/26 (preliminary) · no results are published by school · Without school-level results from Ireland, the cards show no letters.
The EPA’s radon map puts 4% of homes in Clara above the reference level. Landslides: none of Clara lies in a high-susceptibility zone. Low-lying near a river: 1.6% of homes, higher than both Co. Offaly’s towns (0%) and Irish towns (0.5%).
| Share of homes | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-lying near a river | 1.6% | 0% | 0.5% |
| In high-radon areas | 0% | 0% | 0% |
EPA radon map, GSI landslide susceptibility and our low-lying homes estimate from OPW LiDAR.
Taken over the whole year, the average temperature in Clara is 9.8°C. A January night in Clara drops to 2.0°C on average, close to Co. Offaly’s towns (2.1°C) and below Irish towns (2.9°C). October is the wettest month locally, with 92 mm of rain on average.
| Climate, 1991–2020 | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 2.0°C | 2.1°C | 2.9°C |
| Average temperature over the year | 9.8°C | 9.9°C | 10.3°C |
Met Éireann, 1991–2020 averages.
A short walk to green space: 78% of homes, near Co. Offaly’s towns (78%) and lower than Irish towns (92%). Among the protected sites near Clara is Clara Bog SAC. Green space in Clara works out at 5.4 ha per 1,000 people.
| Outdoors | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland within 1 km | 6.1% | 10% | 2.7% |
| Protected nature within 5 km | 6.4% | 3.8% | 1.8% |
| Paths per km² of town | 0.2 km per km² | 0.7 km per km² | 2.1 km per km² |
| Near a park | 78% | 78% | 92% |
OpenStreetMap parks and paths, NPWS protected sites and the National Trails Register.
Clara’s averages for November set the scene: the usual high is 10°C, the usual low 4°C. Expect a dry, breezy day today, the wind reaching 24 km/h and the temperature dipping to 5°C. Highs in the days that follow range from 7°C to 11°C, warmest on Thursday.
| Season | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | 8°C | 2°C | 248 mm |
| Spring | 13°C | 5°C | 184 mm |
| Summer | 19°C | 11°C | 232 mm |
| Autumn | 14°C | 6°C | 253 mm |
Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0) · normals: Met Éireann, 1991–2020
19% of adults hold a degree. Daily Irish speakers outside school: 0.4%, close to Co. Offaly’s towns (0.9%) and below Irish towns (1.1%). The 15-to-24 age group makes up 13% of residents.
Women make up 51.9% of Clara
1,767 women and 1,636 men live here; across Ireland, women are 50.6%.
| Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 21% | 20% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 29% | 29% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 24% | 24% |
| 65+ | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Primary or none | 17% | 15% | 9.7% |
| Lower secondary | 21% | 15% | 14% |
| Leaving Cert | 37% | 39% | 35% |
| Diploma or cert | 6.8% | 6% | 5.8% |
| Degree or higher | 19% | 25% | 36% |
CSO, Census 2022 · Co. Offaly and Ireland: the median of their towns of 2,500+
Fianna Fáil lead Offaly County Council with 8 of 19 seats, but no party has a majority: 10 are needed. Local government for Clara is Offaly County Council alone; Ireland has a single tier. Half of voters turned out at the last local elections, near Co. Offaly’s towns (50%) and higher than Irish towns (46%).
| Turnout | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local elections, June 2024 | 50% | 50% | 46% |
| General election, November 2024 | 60% | 60% | 59% |
Department of Housing count sheets, 2024
7.9% of its homes were built before 1919, above Co. Offaly’s towns (5%) and Irish towns (3.4%) alike. The archaeological record lists 2 sites here. Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 52 buildings in Clara, each of regional importance.
| Heritage | Clara | Co. Offaly | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory buildings per 10,000 residents | 153 | 85 | 48 |
| Homes built before 1919 | 7.9% | 5% | 3.4% |
| Archaeological sites on the record | 2 | 6 | 11 |
NIAH, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage · Sites and Monuments Record · CSO, Census 2022 homes by year built
2 places to visit are mapped within 5 km of Clara; with them, the best known within 40 km.
Abbey or prioryDurrow Abbey4.9 km outside town, to the east
Historic house · Office of Public WorksClonmacnoise25 km west
CathedralCathedral of Christ the King27 km northeast
CastleBirr Castle34 km southwest
CastleBallycowan Castle8.2 km southeast
CastleLeap Castle37 km southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Surveyors for the national inventory recorded 52 buildings in Clara, each of regional importance. Archaeologists have recorded 2 sites here.
2 notable people were born in Clara; with them, the best known born in the towns around it.
Barry Cowen: Houses of the Oireachtas, CC BY 4.0 · Brian Cowen: US Government / The White House, Public domain · Yvonne Farrell: Amor Vacui, CC BY 3.0 · Dónal Lunny: Richiecoss at English Wikipedia, Public domain
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Boundaries: Tailte Éireann, CSO Urban Areas 2022 and Electoral Divisions.
6% mostly work from home, and 49% of journeys take under 15 minutes.
Clara had 3,403 people at the 2022 census, up from 3,183 in 2016: 6.9% more, against 7.6% in the median of Irish towns.
The median age in Clara is 37.6, against 37.6 in the median of Irish towns. 21% of residents are under 15 and 15% are 65 or over.
Urban area in Co. Offaly
Clara has 3,403 people, in the area of Offaly County Council. TownRatings uses the CSO’s 2022 Urban Areas as Ireland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a county or a council area, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from Tailte Éireann’s boundaries and the CSO’s Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0)
Sources: CSO, Census 2022 Small Area Population Statistics (CC BY 4.0) · Tailte Éireann, Urban Areas and Electoral Divisions 2022 (CC BY 4.0) · TownRatings grades, run #544 (Irish towns only). 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).