County Meath Guide (An Mhí)
“The Royal County” - in the province of Leinster. County town: Navan.
Ancient seat of the High Kings at Tara, and the tombs of Brú na Bóinne.
Meath is the Royal County, ancient seat of the High Kings at the Hill of Tara and home to Brú na Bóinne - the passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, older than the pyramids. Rich farmland and the Boyne Valley give it a landscape as historically deep as anywhere in Europe.
Meath's very name declares its status: An Mhí, the middle, heart of the ancient fifth province of Míde and seat of the High Kings of Ireland at Tara. This is the Royal County, and no county in Ireland is so saturated with the deep past. In the bend of the Boyne stand Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth - vast passage tombs raised around 3200 BC, older than Stonehenge or the pyramids of Giza, and together a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Each winter solstice, dawn light still creeps up the passage at Newgrange exactly as its builders intended more than five thousand years ago.
Later ages left their marks just as boldly. The monks of Kells produced one of the world's great manuscripts; Hugh de Lacy built Trim Castle, the largest Anglo-Norman fortress in Ireland; and in 1690 the fate of two kingdoms was decided at the Battle of the Boyne near Oldbridge. Meath's famously rich limestone pastures made it Ireland's great fattening ground for cattle, while Navan sits above Europe's largest zinc mine. Today it is a prosperous, fast-growing county in Dublin's orbit, fiercely proud of its Gaelic football tradition and of a heritage that few places on earth can match.
Cities, towns and villages in Meath
- Navan - The busy county town at the meeting of the Boyne and Blackwater, home to Tara Mines, Europe's largest zinc mine, and birthplace of a surprising number of comedians and actors.
- Trim - A heritage town dominated by Trim Castle, the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland and a filming location for Braveheart.
- Kells - A monastic town founded by followers of St Colmcille, which gave its name to the Book of Kells and retains a round tower, high crosses and an ancient oratory.
- Slane - An elegant estate village where St Patrick is said to have lit the Paschal fire on the Hill of Slane, now world-famous for concerts at Slane Castle.
- Ashbourne - A fast-growing commuter town remembered for the Battle of Ashbourne in 1916, one of the few rebel victories of the Easter Rising.
- Athboy - A market town beside the Hill of Ward, the ancient site of Tlachtga, where the Samhain fires that gave rise to Halloween were lit.
- Ratoath - A commuter town beside Fairyhouse Racecourse, home of the Irish Grand National every Easter Monday.
- Laytown - A seaside village that hosts the Laytown Races, the only official race meeting in Europe run on a beach.
- Oldcastle - A north Meath town beneath the Loughcrew hills, whose Neolithic cairns align with the equinox sunrise.
- Bettystown - A coastal resort village where the magnificent 8th-century Tara Brooch was found on the beach in 1850.
Famous people from Meath
- Pierce Brosnan - Navan-born actor who became world famous as James Bond and in films from The Thomas Crown Affair to Mamma Mia.
- Francis Beaufort - Navan-born hydrographer of the Royal Navy who devised the Beaufort scale of wind force still used around the world.
- St Oliver Plunkett - Archbishop of Armagh born at Loughcrew in 1625, martyred at Tyburn in 1681 and canonised in 1975 as the first new Irish saint in almost 700 years.
- John Boyle O'Reilly - Fenian poet born at Dowth Castle who was transported to Australia, escaped on a whaling ship and became one of Boston's most celebrated writers and editors.
- Turlough O'Carolan - Blind harper and composer born near Nobber around 1670, often called Ireland's national composer.
- Jim Connell - Labour activist from Kilskyre who wrote The Red Flag, the anthem of the international labour movement.
- Dylan Moran - Comedian and actor born in Navan, creator and star of the sitcom Black Books.
- Tommy Tiernan - One of Ireland's best-loved comedians and chat-show hosts, who grew up in Navan.
- Seán Boylan - Herbalist from Dunboyne who managed the Meath footballers for 23 years, winning four All-Ireland titles.
- Mary Lavin - Celebrated short-story writer who lived and worked for much of her life on a farm at Bective on the Boyne.
Did you know?
- Newgrange was built around 3200 BC, making it centuries older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Giza; its roof-box channels the winter solstice sunrise into the burial chamber.
- The Hill of Tara was the ceremonial seat of the High Kings of Ireland, and its standing stone, the Lia Fáil, was said to cry out when touched by the rightful king.
- Trim Castle took around 30 years to build from 1176 and is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland; it stood in for medieval York in the film Braveheart.
- The Battle of the Boyne was fought near Oldbridge on 1 July 1690, when William III defeated James II in one of the most consequential battles in Irish history.
- Tara Mines near Navan is the largest zinc mine in Europe, in production since 1977.
- The Laytown Races, run since 1868, are the only official horse races in Europe held on a beach under the rules of racing.
- Westmeath was part of Meath until 1543, when it was split off by act of parliament - both counties descend from the ancient kingdom of Míde, once counted as Ireland's fifth province.
- The Tara Brooch, one of the greatest treasures of early Irish metalwork, was actually found on the beach at Bettystown in 1850 and has no connection to the Hill of Tara beyond its marketing-friendly name.
- Halloween traces its roots to the festival of Samhain celebrated at Tlachtga, the Hill of Ward near Athboy, where great fires were lit to mark the Celtic new year.
Places to visit in Meath
- Newgrange - A 5,200-year-old passage tomb - older than the pyramids.
- Hill of Tara - The ancient inauguration site of the High Kings of Ireland.
Surnames from Meath: Kelly · Plunkett · Cusack · Dillon · Harte · Carolan · Aylmer · Boylan · Bruton · Cosgrave · Darcy · Ennis