A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
Sionainn· Irish · main form · validated name
Shannon· English · main form
Place & story
Housing for an industrial experiment
Shannon Development was established in 1959 to promote the airport and its surrounding region. Workers needed homes close to the airport and Free Zone, where a shortage of accommodation could discourage employers. University of Limerick’s archival guide traces the first housing to Drumgeely Hill, with flats and executive houses influenced by post-war British new towns. Construction photographs record the settlement taking shape during the early 1960s.[2]
People & connections
Brendan O’Regan’s workforce and town
Brendan O’Regan promoted housing as essential to the industrial zone’s success. Clare Museum records the development company’s land purchase in 1961, followed by flats, rented houses and amenities. Shops, a community hall, play areas and tennis courts accompanied the early accommodation. Churches, schools and a Garda station followed as the population grew. Shannon became a separate parish in 1967, having previously belonged to Newmarket-on-Fergus.[3]
Making community life
A community officer helped newcomers settle, distributing details of local organisations and services. Shannon Development’s annual Getting to Know You ball began in 1960. Later photographs show sports days, parades, drama rehearsals and children using new playgrounds. Families arriving from Northern Ireland during the Troubles and Chilean refugees in the 1970s added to a population already drawing workers from abroad. These records preserve everyday town-building alongside the more familiar industrial story.[2]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
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Shannon — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
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Shannon Legal Town, Clare — Legal town, CSO 2006 report — census population
Shannon Environs, Clare — Town environs only, CSO 2006 report
2002–2006: town environs only
741people · 2006
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
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Shannon Environs, Clare — Town environs only, CSO 2006 report — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
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Shannon Legal Town, Clare — Legal town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Shannon Environs, Clare — Town environs only, CSO 1996 report
1991–1996: town environs only
128people · 1996
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
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Shannon Environs, Clare — Town environs only, CSO 1996 report — census population
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
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Shannon, Clare — Legal town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Shannon, Clare — 2011 legal town and environs; 2016 census settlement
Published census settlement populations
9,729people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
View population figures
Shannon, Clare — 2011 legal town and environs; 2016 census settlement — census population
Shannon Airport control tower, County Clare illustration: based on a Control tower, Shannon Airport by N Chadwick. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
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