UPDATED (12:30pm) with statement from Kilkenny County Council (see below).
What’s been described as “dirty water” is flooding parts of a county Kilkenny town roadway.
After weeks of hot weather, last evening’s rainfall appears to have had an effect on the storm drains on Bridge Street in Callan.
Fennelly’s cafe and arthouse is on the stretch that’s been impacted – Etaoin Holahan, who runs the facility, has been outlining details on The KCLR Daily;
Cllr Joe Lyons who lives in the area and runs his own business nearby told KCLR News that at least two premises have been affected;
A spokesperson for the local authority sent forward this response at 12:25pm, Tuesday, 4th August:
“Flash Flooding – Bridge Street Callan – Monday August 3rd 2026
During a heavy rain outburst in Callan yesterday evening the surface water drainage system was overwhelmed leading to the overflow of water through gullies and a manhole onto Bridge Street Callan. The reason for this incident was the large volume of rainfall over a very short period of time. The surface water drainage system was unable to cope with the volume of water. This is not related to flooding of the Kings River. This incident did not in any way involve the wastewater or sewerage system in Callan. The water on Bridge Street yesterday evening was surface water only. Due to the long spell of dry weather silt and dirt in the surface water drainage network was washed through resulting in dirty surface water.
Kilkenny County Council has this morning arranged for the streets affected to be washed and cleaned.
Such incidents of flooding resulting from sudden heavy rainfall have impacted Callan and other locations in the county previously. While they are rare and unpredictable they are becoming more frequent due to changing weather patterns caused by climate change. Unfortunately, due to the random and sudden nature of such heavy rainfall events, it is not possible to mitigate the impacts of flash floods arising from rainfall deluges as occurred in Callan yesterday evening.”
