Meelick (Leagan Gaeilge – Míleac): The townland of Meelick is situated 7.5 kilometres north-west of the town of Glenamaddy in north-east County Galway. John O’Donovan gave the townland name as Miliuc in the 1830’s Field Name Books and translated it as “an insulated spot of land”. Fr. Conway, writing in the early 1900s, believed that translation of the Irish name to be “land bordering on a lake or river”. The official Logainm Irish version of the name is Míleac. This is the version used in 1937 Schools’ Folklore Collection. In Irish word mí can mean opposite and leac is the Irish for rock. Other forms of the townland name are Millesk, Myllesk and Milliske.
Distinctive Features:
• The Enclosure situated in Meelick is registered with the National Monuments Service and features in the National Monuments Service Archaeological Survey Database.
• The 1840 Historic Ordnance Survey Map shows Meelick Village containing twenty one houses in a cluster fitting the definition of a clachan village in the centre of the townland..
• The Yellow River flows eastward through the townland.
1656-58 Down Survey: There is no information about Meelick townland available in the online Down Survey website.
1823 – 1838 Tithe Applotment Books: Surviving documentation of the Tithe Applotment Books is in poor condition making it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to decipher the names of landholders. In so far as it can be ascertained the Catholic landholders in the townland of Meelick who paid the tithe (tax) levied to support the Established Church (Church of Ireland) were Thomas Kine, Laughlin Mannion and Pat Tully. Protestant occupiers of agricultural holdings were exempt from this tax.
1838 O’Donovan’s Field Name Books: O’Donovan Field Name book description of the townland is incorrectly posted online. Patrick Knight stated in “The History of the Parish of Boyounagh” that the three quarters of the townland of Meelick consisted of bog. We can assume that the remainder was pasture and tillage.
1856 Griffith’s Valuation: The townland covers an area of 591 acres 0 rood 10 perches and the total rateable valuation of the land and buildings combined amounted to £76 15s 0d. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation there were fifteen occupiers in the townland of Meelick – Collins, Connor, Coyne, Cunningham (2), Ganly, Keavany, Mannion, McDonnell, Mulrooney, Murray (3), Tivineen and Tully. The landlord was Martin McDonnell.
Adjoining Townlands: The following townlands share a border with Meelick – Knockauns West, Cloonlara North, Cultiafadda, Cloonkeen, Boyounagh Beg, Cloonmaghaura (Templetogher Parish), Kilmore (Templetogher Parish) and Lisrivish (Templetogher Parish).

Census Records: Population and Household data for the townland of Meelick:

Census Years	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	2011
Population	119	91	110	102	96	96	81	89	21
Households	21	15	18	16	17	18	17	17	8

Glenamaddy and the Irish Folklore Collections:

The article posted on this website under the ‘Heritage > Folklore’ tab provides an overview of the folklore material submitted by Glenamaddy parishioners to the National Folklore Commission, now known as the Irish Folklore Collections. It also explains the background to the 1937 Schools’ Collection (Bailiúchán na Scol) project which has good representation from a parish perspective

The Irish Folklore Collections housed in the Folklore Department of University College Dublin contain a treasure trove of folklore material, some of which is accessible online. Both the Main Manuscript Collection and the Schools’ Collection contain a considerable number of submissions from collectors and informants who resided in the parish of Glenamaddy. The quick reference directories featured in the ‘Parish > Townlands’ section of this website complement the user-friendly search features of the dúcas.ie website and are helpful in tracking Schools’ Collection submissions associated with townlands. Submissions are categorised under – School, Teacher, Language, Volume Number, Page Number, Collector, Collector’s Townland, Informant and Informant’s Townland. Where applicable, Schools’ Collection directories showing online townland-related submissions appear at the end of the following townland posts on this website – Ballinapeaka, Ballinastack, Barna, Boyounagh More (Middletown), Bushtwon, Cashel, Classaghroe, Cloonacross, Clooncon East, Clooncon West, Cloonkeen, Cultiafadda, Eskeromullacaun (Esker), Felimspark, Glenamaddy, Gortaganny, Gortnagier, Kiltullagh, Knockauns, Lisheenaheltia, Loughpark, Meelick, Scotland, Shannagh More, Stonetown and Woodfield.

Schools’ Collection Townland-Related Quick Reference Directory:

Parish folklore submissions contained in the Schools’ Collection are also accessible online via the following links:-

Árd Aoibhinn National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613680

Árd Aoibhinn National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613681 

Glenamaddy Girls’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613677

Glenamaddy Boys’ National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613678

Glenamaddy Boys’ National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613679 

Gort na Léime National School – Part 1 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4569061   

Gort na Léime National School – Part 2 – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4569062 

Lisheenaheltia Girls’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613675 

Lisheenaheltia Boys’ National School – https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613676    

Glenamaddy submissions which form part of the Main Manuscript Collection are not posted online but may be examined in the reading room of the Folklore Department in U.C.D., Belfield, Dublin 4. Typed versions of some of the parish contributions contained in the Main Manuscript Collection are published under the ‘Heritage > Folklore’ tab on this website.   

Quick Reference Directory of Glenamaddy folklore submissions in the Main Manuscript Collection:-

Author: Pat Keaveny

Sources:

Townlands in County Galway

1840 Historic Ordnance Survey Map

Place Name Books of Galway

The Down Survey of Ireland

The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837

Griffith Valuation – Ask About Ireland

Central Statistics Office

National Archives: Census Reports 1901/1911

Essex University: Historic Population Census Reports

Historic Environment Viewfinder

Historical Notes on the Parish of Glenamaddy. Fr Walter Conway

Schools’ Folklore Collection