ToreG His father Martin was a renowned footballer locally in their native Wicklow while former Republic of Ireland international Clive Clarke, who played more than 200 league games for Stoke City, is his uncle and agent.
Melia, the next footballer to come from the family's production line, caught the eye of coaches and scouts from a young age, scoring "four of five goals" per game growing up in Wicklow.
"I saw at an early age that Mason would go straight to the top through his sheer love of football," Hughie Nolan, one of his first coaches at Newtown Juniors who also worked with Clarke and Melia senior, told BBC Sport.
"I knew he would be good, people always talk about the next Roy Keane or Robbie Keane and usually I don't see it, but I knew he would be good - but maybe not this good.