Clonmel is the county town of Tipperary, on the River Suir. The 2022 census counted 18,369 people there, 3,336 of them (18.2%) aged 65 or over. County Tipperary had 20.3% more people aged 65 or over in 2022 than in 2016 (24,398 then, 29,356 now), 1.5 points below the national rise of 22%. The census records 1,087 unpaid carers in the town, 5.9% of the population, and 4,645 people (25.3%) with a disability. 26.9% of people aged 65 and over in private households in County Tipperary live alone (7,511 people), in line with the national 25.9%.
For HSE purposes the area belongs to HSE Dublin and South East, within the Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary South area. The HSE side of home support runs through the HSE Home Support Office in South Tipperary (Clonmel) (Clonmel Community Care Centre, Western Road E91 HT96, 052 617 7258). At night the GP out-of-hours service is Caredoc. We found 7 home care provider offices listed in County Tipperary, from 7 names. Bluebird Care and Family Carers Ireland have an office in the town, with Dovida and Comfort Home Care also on the list for the county. Visits for tomorrow, a change to the rota, a worry about Mam: the same few questions come in every evening, and most of them can wait for the morning summary.
For hospital discharges the closest acute sites on the HSE list are Tipperary University Hospital and University Hospital Waterford. Palliative care in the area is provided by South Tipperary Community Specialist Palliative Care Team. A county town agency is often small enough that the manager is also the on-call nurse. Hettie takes the routine calls so the manager's phone rings only for what needs a person.