Meelick
Four kilometres from Eyrecourt, where the Shannon spreads more than a kilometre and a half wide among islands and weirs, a Franciscan church has been in use since 1414. The friary was one of the few places the river could be forded, so the Burkes put a castle beside it and the government put a Martello tower across the water, and the Shannon Commissioners cut a lock here in 1843. In 1887 the parish hurlers represented Galway in the first All-Ireland final ever played.
Checked against the source on 2026-09-19.
Eyrecourt Castle, Clonfert House on the 3D model; tap a pin for its page and directions.
The friary
Pope John XXII gave permission for the friary in 1414, and the church and sacristy are still used, with traces of the transept chapel, friary and a small mill in the ruins. The last friar, Fr Bonaventure Francis Reynolds, died in November 1852 with no one to replace him, and the church has been kept for weekly services since. The Franciscans return each August for the Meelick Triduum.
The lock, the castle and the tower
Earthworks north of the church are the de Burgo castle that watched the ford. Meelick Lock, also called Victoria Lock, was built in limestone by the Shannon Commissioners under the engineer Thomas Rhodes to deal with a shallows and a change of level: 43.4 metres long, 12 wide, with a rise of 2.4 metres, the canal dug by William MacKenzie in 1841 and the lock finished in 1843 after the workmen struck for one shilling and threepence a day. On Moran Island across the river the cam-shaped Meelick Martello Tower with three gun positions went up about 1811 to guard the Keelogue crossing against a French landing. Salmon and wild brown trout are fished here, and the Hymany Way of the Beara-Breifne trail passes through.
1887
In the first All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, Meelick stood for Galway in the final at Birr before 5,000 people and lost to Thurles, representing Tipperary. A plaque on the gable of his home marks the captain, Patrick Madden. The club today is Meelick-Eyrecourt, founded in 1884. The pub known as George's, or the Shop, and a kayaking festival at the end of the boating season complete the village. The model pins Eyrecourt's castle and the Clonfert road.
Questions people ask
Is Meelick church really the oldest in use in Ireland?
How big is Meelick Lock?
Did Meelick play in the first All-Ireland hurling final?
Written from Wikipedia, "Meelick, County Galway" (CC BY-SA 4.0), read on 2026-09-19, and from the OpenStreetMap places on the model. Nothing has been added from memory; follow the source for its footnotes.