St Francis' Church, Meelick

On a low hill overlooking the River Shannon to the E, on or close to the site of the medieval borough of Meelick (GA108-234----). This Franciscan friary was certainly in existence c. 1414 and was probably founded by Braswell(?) O'Madden. In 1445 Pope Eugenius IV granted an indulgence for its repair. Though it was ruinous after the Dissolution, it was reoccupied and repaired a number of times in the late 16th and 17th centuries (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 254-5). The Jacobite soldier, John Stevens, visited Meelick en route to Athlone in June 1691. He records in his journal that ‘Here is also the residence of a few Franciscan friars only remarkable for the poverty of their house and chapel which are nothing but long thatched cabins. The walls of a handsome chapel designed by these friars are standing, but never roofed or further finished than the raising of them to their full height.’ (Murray 1912, 202).

The surviving monument consists of a restored rectangular church (35m E-W; 7.5m N-S), which is still in use. The original doorway, in the W gable, is surmounted by a 17th-century round-headed window of three lights. The whole E gable has been rebuilt since the time of the OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 2, 55-7). A blocked arch at the E end of the S side-wall led to a transept (L c. 7m; W 4.5m), which is now reduced to its foundations. A pair of blocked arches about mid-point along the S wall may also have led to a transept or a short S aisle. A carved figure of St Francis was subsequently inserted between the arches (Harbison 1975, 97). Dr Christy Cunniffe (field-monuments.galwaycommunityheritage.org/content/archaeology/churches/effigy-st-francis, last accessed 7 January 2019) suggests that it came from either a decorated tomb or from the cloister arcade. A 17th-century doorway in the N side-wall gave access to the cloister area. The lintel bears a much spalled inscription the only parts of which may be deciphered as follows: ‘Inceperunt fratres minor/e[s] . . . are monas[teriu]m / D . . . Ano Dn 16 –.’ The spalling appears to have resulted from fire. As the lettering corresponds with others on the various wall plaques and memorials of later 17th century date this inscription may commemorate a rebuilding by the friars at this period. The cloister area to the north is flanked on its E side by a ruined building (N-S; L 13m; Wth 3,2m) marked 'Convent Chapel' (GA108-124005-) on the 1838 edition of the OS 6-inch map. A second two-storey ruin (L 12m; Wth 7.5m), probably on the site of the west range, is named 'Friars Ho.' (GA108-124008-) on the same map. It is possible that these are the buildings referred to in Stevens’s journal above. There are a number of 17th- and 18th-century graveslabs and plaques (see GA108-124006-, GA108-124007- and GA108-124010- to GA108-124027-) in the church and its graveyard, which lies to S and E.