Census 2022 puts Athy, a town on the River Barrow in south Kildare, at 11,035 people. Of those, 1,383 (12.5%) are aged 65 and over, close to the county average. In the town itself, 2,757 people (25.0%) reported a disability and 595 (5.4%) gave regular unpaid care to someone. County Kildare had 29,720 residents aged 65 and over at Census 2022, up 35.0% on 2016 (13.2 points above the national rise of 22%). 6,049 over-65s in County Kildare live on their own, 21.5% of those in private households and 4.4 points below the national 25.9%.
On the HSE map, this is HSE Dublin and Midlands territory and the Kildare, West Wicklow Integrated Health Area. Home support hours for the area are commissioned through the HSE Home Support Office for Dublin South City, South West and West (also Kildare and West Wicklow), Junction House, Kilnamanagh-Tymon Primary Care Centre, Airton Road, Tallaght D24 CF75 (01 921 4718). At night the GP out-of-hours service is KDOC. On the October 2026 lists, County Kildare shows 16 provider offices and 16 distinct names. Among the names are Dovida, Bluebird Care, Caremark, Comfort Keepers and Right at Home. In a growing commuter town the pressure on rotas rises with the older population.
For hospital discharges the closest acute sites on the HSE list are Naas General Hospital and St Luke's General Hospital Carlow Kilkenny. Palliative care in the area is provided by St Brigid's Hospice Kildare and Kildare and West Wicklow Community Specialist Palliative Care Team. When relatives live in other towns or counties, the evening call to the agency is often how they find out what is happening. A family here often has several households involved in one person's care. Hettie takes the evening call from whichever of them rings.