What is recorded here

The lost underground passage in Meelick, County Mayo, appeared briefly during cemetery work in 1967, revealing a narrow dry-stone chamber that may have served the old monastic community beside the round tower. Workmen cut through it before understanding what they had opened, then covered it again without marking where it lay. The passage escaped because nobody recorded its position, but the forgotten chamber still lies beneath the field, waiting for someone careful enough to find it.

Located to W of a graveyard (MA071-028002-), which encloses a round tower (MA071-028003-) and the site of a church (MA071-028001-). This souterrrain was uncovered in 1967 by workmen digging foundation trenches for the wall of the 'new cemetery at Meelick', in a field known locally as 'The Bishop's Field' (NMI Correspondence Files/SMR file). Two trenches (D c. 1m) cut through the Man-made underground passage, revealing it to be of dry-stone construction with lintel roofing. Some objects, including bones and sea shells, were recovered and brought to the National Museum. The Man-made underground passage is likely to have been associated with the monastic foundation which existed here, of which the round tower and church were a part. The Man-made underground passage was covered over again; its exact location, which was not recorded at the time of its discovery, remains uncertain. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 21 June 2018

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