placenamesMeelick
Míleac
Beside the familiar Mayo round tower, archaeological records preserve less conspicuous traces of the old religious site.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Míleac · Irish · main form · non-validated name
- Meelick · English · main form
Place & story
A name lost from the inscription
A cross-slab attached to the tower’s eastern side carries an interlaced Latin cross and a decorated border. In the National Monuments Service’s 2018 record, the surface is heavily worn. The surviving inscription asks for prayer, but the personal name can no longer be read in full. The record therefore gives only the beginning of that name, rather than identifying a particular individual. The stone preserves an act of commemoration whose intended recipient is now uncertain. [2]
The discovery in the Bishop’s Field
In 1967, workmen cutting foundations for a new cemetery wall uncovered a stone-lined underground passage in the field known locally as the Bishop’s Field. The archaeological record describes dry-stone walls and lintel roofing, with bones and sea shells sent to the National Museum. The passage was covered again, and its exact position was not recorded. An association with Meelick’s religious foundation is considered likely, but neither a precise construction date nor its original purpose is established by that account. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Meelick. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Meelick cross-slab MA071-028004-, compiled21June2018 · Jane O’Shaughnessy, National Monuments Service
- Meelick souterrain MA071-028006-, compiled21June2018 · Jane O’Shaughnessy, National Monuments Service
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.