The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
LOCAL historian and Coolmeen GAA club activist Paul Markham estimates that the current parish population is 650, in what is a 225-house community. He says that in the region of 30 people from the community, in the 20 to 30-year-old age bracket, have had to emigrate in search of work. While there are plenty of young players on the panel, the two schools in the parish have a combined pupil population of just 32. There are two teachers in Cranny National School, which has 21 pupils, while one-teacher Coolmeen National School has 11 pupils. This reflects the challenge that many rural schools in West Clare face, as populations continue to decline in the region. There is no post office and no shop in the 24-townland parish, which has two pubs. “Since the 1960s all three post offices in Shanahea, Cranny and Coolmeen have closed. The creamery at Cranny has been demolished. Public houses like Moloney’s in Coolmeen and McMahon’s in …
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