FIGURES published by the parish show that 634 people have died in Shannon since 2000, with 2013 the year when most deaths were recorded.
Speaking to The Clare Champion, parish priest Father Tom Ryan said that the town’s demographics are maturing. “Maybe 30 years ago there would be ten baptisms every Sunday, but now the town is maturing and it’s an ageing town.
That’s reflected in the amount of grandparents in the town and even great grandparents which wouldn’t have been there in the past.”
It’s not that long ago since the cemetery was put in place at Illaunmanagh. “The cemetery opened in 2001 and a number of years later an extension was sought for it and that’s filling up as well, but there’s still plenty of space available.”
The parish was founded on Christmas Eve of 1967, although people had been living in the town for some years before that, as part of the Newmarket on Fergus parish.
Number of deaths per year
2000- 23
2001- 32
2002 38
2003-32
2004-34
2005-53
2006-51
2007-50
2008-59
2009-61
2010-41
2011-43
2012-45
2013-72
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.