Ennis, the county town of Clare, recorded 27,923 residents at the last census. 14.6% of them, 4,073 people, were 65 or older. In the town itself, 6,205 people (22.2%) reported a disability and 1,619 (5.8%) gave regular unpaid care to someone. Between 2016 and 2022 the 65+ population of County Clare grew from 17,655 to 21,657, a rise of 22.7%. 27.4% of people aged 65 and over in private households in County Clare live alone (5,566 people), 1.5 points above the national 25.9%.
For HSE purposes the area belongs to HSE Mid West, within the Clare and Limerick County area. Home support hours for the area are commissioned through the HSE Home Support Office in Clare, St Joseph's Hospital, Lifford Road, Ennis V95 RT99 (065 686 3534). The out-of-hours GP service for the area is Shannondoc. The county list we built has 7 offices from 7 home care providers. In the town itself the lists show 4 offices, among them Dovida, Bluebird Care, CareBright / Clarecare and Family Carers Ireland, with Care About You also on the list for the county. Limerick and Mallow are the nearest towns with pages of their own, and agencies often follow clients across those boundaries.
The acute hospitals nearest the area on the HSE list are Ennis Hospital and University Hospital Limerick. Cahercalla Community Hospital & Hospice and Clare Community Specialist Palliative Care Team cover specialist palliative care for the area. A county town agency usually covers the surrounding villages too, so a call that starts in one parish can end up anywhere on the rota. One number, answered every night and routed by your own rules, keeps a wide rota simple.