Meelin () is a village in northern

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, barony of

Duhallow Duhallow () is a barony located in the north-western part of County Cork, Ireland. Legal context Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as divisions of counties and were used in the administration of justice and the raisin ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The village is near the border with

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

and County Kerry. Meelin is within the

Cork North-West (Dáil constituency) Cork North-West is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 3 deputies ( Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) on the system of proportional repr ...

. At above sea level, Meelin is the highest village in Ireland, although

Glencullen Glencullen () is a village and townland in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in south County Dublin, Ireland. It is also the name of the valley above one end of which the village sits, and from which it takes its name, and is on the R ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

also claims to be the highest at about .

History

Fulacht fiadh A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight. Radiocarbon ...

s are found in Meelin and around the Duhallow area. There is also a 4,000-year-old burial mound in the village. In the early 20th century quarries were set up in the village and employed over 100 people. But in the 1920s quarrying started to slow down and by 1964 it had stopped altogether. In 1963, English geologist William Morton carried out a survey of the limestone area around the village and assumed there might be

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

deep in the rocks. After three oil companies drilled over 5,000 feet into the rocks, no oil or gas was found.

Churches

The church of Saint Joseph was built in 1837, Meelin is part of the

Clonfert Clonfert () is a small village in east County Galway, Ireland, halfway between Ballinasloe and Portumna. The village gives its name to the Diocese of Clonfert. Clonfert Cathedral is one of the eight cathedral churches of the Church of Ireland, ...

parish. In 1871 a Bell for the church was brought to the village by John Murphy. It was built over the gallery in a bell tower and remained there until 1970 when repairs were carried out on the church.

Sport

The village is home to Meelin GAA which was founded in 1928. Hurling is the predominant sport in Meelin. The Meelin hurling team won the Cork Junior A County Championship in 2010. Football is also played at Junior B Level. Meelin won the Junior Hurling Championship final against John Lockes in February 2011.

Education

Meelin National School had an extension built on in 2011. The original school was opened on 1 July 1856, and built of cut stone from the local limestone quarries. At that time there were two schools, a boys' school and a girls' school. The first teacher in the boys' school was John Browne, and his wife Mary Bridget (née Kenneally) was in the girls' school. On 1 April 1951 the boys' and girls' schools amalgamated. Teachers and pupils transferred to the new school across the road after the summer holidays in September 1951. The school is still open today.

People

* Bernie O'Connor, hurler and hurling manager, is from Meelin

References

{{County Cork Towns and villages in County Cork