The Surname Index for the 1826 County Clare Tithes Applotment Books indicated 178 McGraths paying tithes in the county. Of these Moyarta (34), Kilfearagh (16) and Killard (9) and several civil parishes on the north of the Shannon Estuary constituted the largest cluster. These areas accounted for 80 of the McGrath tithe payments for the entire county. Another cluster of seven parishes around Tulla and Feakle in north east Clare accounted for another 48. This left 50 distributed across the remaining 64 parishes.
There is definite evidence that the McGraths and related families (the McNamaras, Doorty/Dohertys and O’Loughlins) who settled in Axedale (Victoria, Australia) in the 1850s came from Kilshanny and adjacent parishes. They had probably moved there at some stage from one of the two major clusters identified above.