Hello Mary, thanks for posting your message about your trip over in May! It's lovely to hear that you are visiting Callan where your great-grandmother was from, a lovely little town.
The main road, N76, out of Kilkenny towards Callan would be the usual way out. It would take about 20 minutes and goes through several small villages before getting to Callan. Although this may seem like the big, busy road, it has a 100 km/h (60 mph) limit with reductions as you pass through the villages, and is probably the size of road you would be used to in Canada.🚗 An alternative route would be the R697 (80kmh or 50 mph) towards Kells before taking a right after Kells towards Callan on the R699. The R roads are more rural and possibly quieter than the National road, but they look very similar for your route, just a little bit narrower, and the center line may disappear, but they are still two-way roads. ☺️
As a matter of interest, when would your ancestor have been in Callan? ☘️