Emigration hits West Clare communities

***The year in review***

LAST January, a survey in Kilmihil revealed that at least 87 people have emigrated from the West Clare parish within the previous two years. The vast majority of the emigrants were aged between 20 and 30.

***The year in review***

LAST January, a survey in Kilmihil revealed that at least 87 people have emigrated from the West Clare parish within the previous two years. The vast majority of the emigrants were aged between 20 and 30.
Gerry Johnson, one of the local people who put the figures together, told The Clare Champion at the time that the deluge of emigrants from the community has led to Kilmihil losing a generation of people. He maintained the crisis is worse than emigration figures from the parish in the 1980s.
“We’re missing a generation in Kilmihil now. That generation is gone. We’ve the younger people and the older ones, like myself, but we’ve nothing in between. That’s basically what’s happening in Kilmihil. I think it’s way worse than in the 1980s. Things weren’t as bad here as they are now. It’s lasting so long this time and there’s no sign of it getting better,” Gerry commented.
Approximately 50% of the recent emigrants from Kilmihil now live in Australia, while the remainder are based around the globe in the UK, Europe, the US, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand.
The collapse of the construction industry is a major factor in the high emigration figures from the parish, although a sizeable percentage of the emigrants are female. Prior to investigating how many people had left the parish, Gerry said he believed the figure was significantly smaller.
“We had no idea. If someone had asked me ‘how many were gone’, I’d have said probably 15 or 20 people gone from Kilmihil was the maximum. I couldn’t believe it. We’ve 16 male footballers lost and there’s 10 of those senior players who played in either 2010 or 2011.
“To come up with a figure of almost 90 people who have left Kilmihil was shocking. We’re only talking about 2010 and 2011. It’s frightening stuff. It’s been devastating for the whole parish. It’s across the board devastation,” the Kilmihil man stated.
In late November, historian Paul Markham, who hosted an American Wake in The Rambling House, Kilmurry McMahon, calculated that approximately 10% of the population of two adjoining parishes had emigrated inside the last three years.
He has hosted a number of American Wakes in recent years in the restored Rambling House. The November gathering was for Rose of Clare Mary Gilligan, who was emigrating to Australia.
“The population of Kilmurry McMahon and Labasheeda is approximately 900 people. Coolmeen/Cranny is about 800, which is in the region of 1,700 between the two parishes,” Paul explained in November. “Easily, there’s 10% of that figure gone away. Definitely the majority of them are in Australia. There are a few in England and Canada but mostly in Australia.”
Although he hasn’t kept an exact count of his local emigrant list in 2012, Paul says his figures suggest that well over 150 people, mostly aged in their early to late 20s, have emigrated.
“I had a full list of the names about a year ago but I didn’t update it since. There must have been about 110 names on that between Kilmurry McMahon, Labasheeda and Coolmeen. It has gone up another 50 or 60 anyway,” he believes, noting that many of those who have emigrated in the last three years are seeking Australian citizenship.
“You also have some families who have emigrated in their entirety. There isn’t anything here at the moment,” he noted.
Paul has conducted some research into the names of emigrants who left Kilmurry McMahon between 1856 and 1867. He found that at least 41 people emigrated to Australia alone during that period.