This weekend St. Michael’s Villas celebrates seventy years since the construction of the estate in 1953. The seventy-six houses and two shops were built by Clare County Council and cost €100,000 to construct.
St. Michael’s was built for rural people primarily and most of the people who took up residence there in September 1953 were staying in lodgings in Ennis town, but originated from various parts of the county. Many also were native Ennis people. They were thrilled with their new homes and arrived there with great determination, hope, and strong faith, with the Grotto to Our Lady at the centre of their community.
The first generation of St. Michael’s children together with the current residents have planned a very eventful weekend to honour the memory and the legacy of the first residents and also to celebrate seventy years of community at its very best. The theme of their celebrations is In ár gcrolthe go deo – In our hearts forever – where they remember their deceased loved ones but also keep St. Michael’s in their hearts as a place of great memories, lifetime friendships, and good values.
An SMV70 choir of over fifty people has been formed to sing at Mass in the Grotto. People are overjoyed to come together to give thanks and praise for the great memories of St. Michael’s. This sense of connection and belonging is so central to our experience as humans, that the great feeling that we belong and can share in a loving, caring community is needed now more than ever.
We wish every blessing to the residents of St. Michael’s Villas. May they continue to flourish.

The Anniversary Exhibition  in honour of St. Michael’s Villas 70th anniversary is on display at Clare Museum, Temple Gate
Plaza, from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Saturday, and continues for the whole month of August.
Call in and view the video, photographs, brief history, and notable people together with St. Michael’s Villas’ book – St. Michael’s Villas – A History & Miscellany.