This Area Profile is undertaken as part of the Diploma in Community Development Practice, National University of Ireland, Galway. The main sources of Information that were used were:

• Small Area Population Statistics from the Central Statistics Office for each of the six District Electoral Divisions over which the Parish of Kilmihil is spread.

• The GAMMA Report commissioned by Eiri Corca Baiscinn

• A Community Profile undertaken by the local Community Employment Scheme under the supervision of Ms. Kay Considine.

• A Community Profile and Resource Audit undertaken by Ms. Caroline Ryan under the Student Summer Work Scheme.

A Brief Outline

About half way between the county town of Ennis and Loop Head to the South West lies the Parish of Kilmihil. It forms part of the Kilrush Rural District and its’ 8,089 statute acres are spread over six District Electoral Divisions. It comprises 21 Townlands. The only centre of population is the Village of Kilmihil with 321 residents. The main road from Ennis to Kilrush forms part of the Eastern boundary and the village lies about two miles from this. Through traffic going West is to Doonbeg and to a lesser extent Kilkee. There is a proposal for a major golfing development in Doonbeg which will have a significant effect on the volume of traffic and the economy of the area.
The village is composed mainly of two streets; Main Street going East/West and Church Street going North/South. There is substantial commercial infrastructure with a wide variety of services available. For a village of its size it is remarkably self-sufficient. It has a second level school with 260 students and 18 staff. It has an active G.A.A. club which has undertaken major work on its’ facilities and which will host the County Senior Football Championship in 1999. The local Drama Group reached the finals of the All-Ireland Amateur Drama festival in 1997. There is a successful juvenile athletics club. The Community Centre had fallen into disrepair and is presently undergoing reconstruction. The lack of this facility in recent years has meant the end of the Youth Club, Badminton, Bingo etc. The new centre will open in late 1999.

The Parish economy depends to a large extent on agriculture with Manufacturing Industries in Ennis, Shannon and Kilrush. The Building Industry is also important.

Kilmihil, like many other places in rural Ireland has suffered from emigration, and a general dereliction and decay. There are still many derelict sites blighting the streetscape of the village but this is being counteracted by an energetic Tidy Towns group, a Village Renewal Scheme and the economic boom which is dramatically increasing the price of property. The extremely high price of housing in Ennis is making Kilmihil a viable alternative. There are new houses going up on all the approach roads and the population of the village will certainly increase in the near future.

At the same time as the population is likely to increase Kilmihil is likely to become a ‘dormitory town’ for Ennis. This may mean that there will be less connection with the social infrastructure for many of these commuters. On the other hand it will hopefully inject fresh enthusiasm and new faces into the local groups such as Kilmihil Community Development who, after an initial flurry of activity, have grown quite and are in need of new ideas to take them on to the next stage of their development.

The future is bright for Kilmihil. In the next 10 years it will continue to develop good housing and commercial infrastructure. If the economy continues to grow then it will become an attractive location to move to and this will in turn help to ensure the future viability of the community.

The rural landscape is seeing an influx of new people also. Small cottages which 10 years ago would have been allowed to fall into dereliction are now being bought and restored by newcomers to the area. These are partly young couples making homes for themselves and partly people building second holiday homes.

Where is the parish of Kilmihil?

The County of Clare is located in the West of Ireland. It is bounded to the South by the estuary of the river Shannon and to the West by the Atlantic Ocean. The County Town is Ennis, situated in the centre of the county. Seventeen miles south west of Ennis is the village of Kilmihil. This village lies in the Parish of the same name. The parish is the social unit that people in this area identify with. While the unit of local civil administration is the District Electoral Division it is probably true to say that many if not most people would not know (or care!) what District Electoral Division (D.E.D.) they reside in. But the vast majority would feel a strong affinity with the Parish. It is for this reason that I have chosen to profile the Parish of Kilmihil.
The D.E.D.’s

The Central Statistics Office provides a detailed analysis of every Census of Population for each D.E.D. This information will be assessed later in this Profile.
The Parish is spread over the following six D.E.D.’s.

• Kilmihil D.E.D.
• Glenmore D.E.D. (part of)
• Cahermurphy D.E.D.
• Creegh D.E.D. (part of)
• Tullycrine D.E.D. (part of)
• Furroor D.E.D (part of)

The TownlandsA townland is a useful unit because the Central Statistics Office (C.S.O.) gives a population breakdown for each based on age and sex. Within the Parish lie the following 21 townlands.

• Ahaga
• Ballydineen
• Boulynameal
• Cahercanavan
• Cahermurphy
• Castlepark
• Cloonakilla
• Carraige
• Cragg
• Glenmore
• Greygrove
• Sorrel Island
• Kiltumper
• Knockalough
• Knockmore
• Lack East
• Lack west
• Lacken
• Lietrim
• Lissenair
• Shyan
• Kilmihil

The VillageThere is just one centre of population in the Parish and that is the village of Kilmihil.

For More Statistical information click here