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MEI
MEELICK, a parish, in the barony of LONGFORD,
county of GALWAY, and province of CONNAUGHT, 2¼
miles (S. E.) from Eyrecourt; containing 1643 inhabi-
tants. This parish, which is also called Milick, is situ-
ated on the river Shannon, and comprises 3404 statute
acres, as applotted under the tithe act. O’Madden,
dynast of the adjacent country, founded a monastery
here for conventual friars on a beautiful site surrounded
in winter by the outspreading waters of the Shannon.
In 1203, William de Burgo made it a garrison for his
troops; and at the dissolution it was granted to Sir John
King, who assigned it to the Earl of Clanrickarde. In
the village is a station of the constabulary police. It is
in the diocese of Clonfert; the rectory is partly appro-
priate to the see, and partly to the archdeaconry; and
the vicarage forms part of the union of Dononaughta.
The tithes amount to £97.16.11¼., of which £27.13.10¼.
is payable to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, £33.4.7½.
to the archdeacon, and the remainder to the vicar. In
the R. C. divisions it forms part of the union or district
of Eyrecourt; there is a convent of Franciscans, with a
chapel attached, which is open to the public.
MEELICK, a parish, in the barony of GALLEN,
county of MAYO, and province of CONNAUGHT, 4 miles
(N. W.) from Swinford, on the road to Castlebar; con-
taining 3493 inhabitants. This parish is bounded by
the river Moy on the north-west, and by the Geesten on
the south-west, and comprises 7843 statute acres of
good arable and pasture land, with some bog. The land
is principally in tillage, and the system of agriculture
improving. Here is a coal mine, not worked at present;
there are very fine stone quarries, the produce of which
is used both for building and repairing the roads. The
principal seats are Oldcastle, the residence of J. Boling-
broke, Esq.; and Newcastle, of A. C. O’Malley, Esq.
It is a vicarage, in the diocese of Achonry, forming part
of the union of Kilconduff; the rectory is impropriate in
the representatives of the late Roger Palmer, Esq. The
tithes amount to £246. 14. 7., one-half of which is pay-
able to the impropriator, and the other to the vicar. In
the R. C. divisions it is part of the union or district of
Kilconduff; the chapel was built in 1835, on an acre of
ground given as a site by J. Bolingbroke, Esq.; attached
to it is a school. There are two private schools, in
which are about 700 children. The celebrated round
tower of Meelick is perfect, with the exception of the
roof, and is in a state of good preservation. In the
Oldcastle demesne is a well, the water of which is im-
pregnated with sulphur and iron, and is efficacious in
scorbutic cases. Numerous gold and silver coins, of the
reigns of the Edwards and Henrys, have been discovered
here from time to time.
MEIGH, an ecclesiastical district, in the barony of
UPPER ORIOR, county of ARMAGH, and province of
ULSTER, 4 miles (S. W.) from Newry, on the road from
Dublin to Belfast; containing 7164 inhabitants. This
district was formed in 1830, by separating some town-
lands from the parish of Killevey. Agriculture is im-
proving, and the waste land consists of bog or mountain,
which is well adapted for the growth of trees. A great
part of the mountain was planted by Jos. Foxall, Esq.,
who was the first to commence the improvements on
Slieve Gullion, which are still being carried on to a great
extent by Powell Foxall, Esq., who has formed a road
halfway up the mountain on an inclination of one in
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MEL
twenty feet. There are some quarries of a fine descrip-
tion of granite, also one of a hard flag-stone, which is
used for building; and from the existence of very
strong chalybeate springs it is supposed that iron might
be found. There are two corn-mills, and some linen,
diaper, frieze, and drugget are manufactured. Petty
sessions are held on alternate Mondays. The prin-
cipal seats are Killevey Castle, the residence of Powell
Foxall, Esq.; Heath Hall, of J. Seaver, Esq.; Carrick-
brede, of A. Johnston, Esq.; and Hawthorn Hill, of
Hunt Walsh Chambré, Esq. The living is a perpetual
curacy, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage
of the Rector of Killevey, who receives the tithes of
Meigh, which are included with those of Killevey: the
curate’s income is £75 per annum, paid by the rector.
The church is a neat edifice, built of granite in the cas-
tellated style: it has a handsome porch, ornamented with
minarets, and the battlements are coped with hewn
stone; it was erected in 1831, at an expense of £1200,
of which £900 was a gift from the late Board of First
Fruits, and the rest was defrayed by subscriptions of
the landed proprietors. In the R. C. divisions this
district forms part of the two unions or districts of
Meigh and Killevey, and has chapels at Cloghog,
Drominter, and Ballinless. There are two schools
under the Board of Education, a private school, and a
dispensary. At the foot of Slieve Gullion are the extensive
ruins of a nunnery, which is said to have been founded by
St. Dareria, or Monenna, sister of St. Patrick, and abbess
of Kilsleve, who died in 517; her festival is celebrated
on the 6th of July. At the dissolution, it and the twelve
surrounding townlands were granted to Sir Marmaduke
Whitchurch, ancestor of the Seaver, Foxall, and Chambré
families, who are now in possession of the lands of the
manor of Kilsleve or Killevey. Near it is a cave, or sub-
terraneous passage, communicating with the abbey.
MELINA.—See MILLENAGH.
MELLIFONT, a parish, partly in the barony of UPPER
SLANE, county of MEATH, and partly in that of FER-
RARD, county of LOUTH, and province of LEINSTER,
4 miles (N. W.) from Drogheda, near the road to Ardee,
by way of Collon; containing, with the parish of Tul-
lyallen, 3964 inhabitants. This place derived its chief
celebrity from the foundation of a monastery in 1142,
by Donough M c Corvoill or Carrol, Prince of Uriel, for
Cistercian monks sent over by St. Bernard from his
abbey of Clairvaux, and of which Christian O’Conarchy,
the first abbot, was, in 1150, consecrated Bishop of Lis-
more. In 1157 a great synod, at which the Archbishop
of Armagh, then apostolic legate, and many princes and
bishops were present, was held here for the conse-
cration of the church, on which occasion, among numer-
ous munificent benefactors, Devorghal, wife of Tieraan
O’Rourk, Prince of Breffny, who afterwards died here
in seclusion, presented 60 oz. of gold, a chalice of the
same metal for the high altar, and furniture for nine
other altars in the church. The ample endowments of
the abbey were confirmed by charter of Hen. II., and
by King John, who augmented its possessions; and in
1347 and 1349, Edw. III. greatly extended its possessions
and privileges; he granted to the abbot the power of life
and death within his territories, and the liberty of ac-
quiring a burgage holding in the town of Drogheda, for
the residence of the abbots during the sittings of parlia-
ment and other great councils. In 1471 and 1472, parlia-