Kilmihil

Kilmihil is a parish located in west County Clare. It contains a village of the same name with many attractions or aesthetically redeeming features. It is in the tradition of many rural villages in the western counties. The name Kilmihil comes from Cill Mhíchíl, or church of St. Michael.

In pre famine times Kilmihil, was a densely populated area. Indeed the present village was far from being the largest centre of the population. In 1837 there was 3794 people in the parish with only 79 in the hamlet. with this number of people on the land (8000 acres) the country side must have been dotted with cabins. Many of these ruined structures are still to be seen.

Kilmihil has changed considerably since Samuel Lewis described it in 1837 as a small hamlet containing 79 people. The village now has a population of over 300. The parish of Kilmihil became a separate Roman Catholic division, separating from the parish of Kilmacduane, in 1848. About 120 children were educated in two private schools in 1837. One hundred and fifty years later over 200 pupils are educated in four National Schools.

The origin of the name “Kilmihil”

Kilmihil is a transliteration of the Gaelic Cill Mhichíl

Knockmore Lake has been the scene of several interesting archaeological finds. Thomas Haugh of Knockmore discovered an enclosure or pound while cutting turf. The walls were 4 feet long and it may have been designed to hold goats or sheep. On another occasion he found a type of hurling ball or sliotar, which consisted of a leather cover, stuffed with some type of coarse hair, possible horsehair. In 1980 P.J. Coughlin deepened the outlet from the lake and when the water level dropped by 2 feet he discovered a cooking place close to the enclosure found by Thomas Haugh. In 1934 a bronze-bound medieval casket was recovered from Knockmore Bog and is now on display in the National Museum.“The church of St. Michael”.