Meath Heritage Trail 12/23/04 12:04 PM Page 1 Brú na Bóinne - Battle of the Boyne = 5km = Boyne the of Battle - Bóinne na Brú Slane - Brú na Bóinne na = 9km Brú - Slane Navan - Slane - Navan = 14km Oldcastle - Navan - = 38km Oldcastle Kells - Oldcastle - Kells = 22km Athboy - Kells - Athboy = 12km Trim - Athboy - Trim = 11km Bective - Trim Trim - Bective = 7km Tara - Bective Bective - Tara 5km = Heritage Trail Distances in km in Distances Trail Heritage own itinerary. own any point and plan your route to suit your suit to route your plan and point any Battle of the Boyne Site Boyne the of Battle 10 starting in Tara, you may start your trail at trail your start may you Tara, in starting While this trail follows a defined route defined a follows trail this While Brú na Bóinne na Brú 9 Kinnegad and continue on through Trim. through on continue and Kinnegad Slane 8 , take the N4 or the N6 to N6 the or N4 the take , From the West the From Navan 7 Cavan, Kells and Navan. and Kells Cavan, , take the N3 through N3 the take , From the North West North the From Oldcastle and Loughcrew and Oldcastle 6 or the N2 to Slane and on to Navan. to on and Slane to N2 the or Kells Heritage Town Heritage Kells 5 aeteM/1t Drogheda to M1/N1 the take , From the North the From Athboy 4 Slane and Navan. and Slane Mornington to Drogheda and on through on and Drogheda to Mornington Trim Heritage Town and Environs and Town Heritage Trim 3 to Laytown and Bettystown, on through on Bettystown, and Laytown to 2 Bective Abbey Bective to Meath. Divert to the R150 the to Divert Meath. to Coastal Route Coastal If you have time at your disposal, take the N1 the take disposal, your at time have you If 1 Hill of Tara of Hill R159 to Trim and continue through Kilmessan. through continue and Trim to R159 to Tara, or take the N4 to Enfield, on to the to on Enfield, to N4 the take or Tara, to Heritage Site Locations Site Heritage to Slane, on to the N51 to Navan and the N3 the and Navan to N51 the to on Slane, to Alternate routes from Dublin include the N2 the include Dublin from routes Alternate signposted to the left off this road. this off left the to signposted towards Navan, past Dunshaughlin. Tara is Tara Dunshaughlin. past Navan, towards Travelling from Dublin City, take the N3 the take City, Dublin from Travelling Visit: www.buseireann.ie Visit: throughout County Meath from Dublin, from Meath County throughout in the towns on route. route. on towns the in Cork or Laytown. There are regular bus services bus regular are There Laytown. or night stops to savour the delights of Meath of delights the savour to stops night Rosslare from Dublin and Belfast stop in Drogheda in stop Belfast and Dublin from continuous journey or with planned over planned with or journey continuous Shannon also convenient. Regular train services train Regular convenient. also the option of completing the trail on one on trail the completing of option the Dublin Galway in Dublin, Dun Laoghaire and Belfast are Belfast and Laoghaire Dun Dublin, in sites in the county. The route allows visitors allows route The county. the in sites drive) from Dublin Airport. The ferry ports ferry The Airport. Dublin from drive) lo ayacs osm ftebs heritage best the of some to access easy allow Meath is 41 km/26 miles (30 minutes (30 miles km/26 41 is Meath the Boyne Site, this trail has been devised to devised been has trail this Site, Boyne the Navan, situated in the centre of County of centre the in situated Navan, Starting at Tara and finishing at the Battle of Battle the at finishing and Tara at Starting Belfast Meath Heritage Trail Heritage Meath Travelling to Meath to Travelling Meath’s royal past has never been so alive Maybe it’s got to do with the lushness of the The visionary spirit of past cultures is richly alive area’s rolling landscape, the way the river winds in Meath today. Forget schoolbook history - its way through the verdant green of the hills, A Tour of Living History Meath’s past is full of mystery and excitement, forests and fields. Whatever the reason, there Archaelogical Treasures, Ancient Legends tragedy and humour. There are high kings and must be something special about this stretch of scholarly monks, Vikings and Normans, castles the Boyne Valley - for it is here that Ireland’s Our Tourist Information Centres and crosses, wise fish and singing stones, history has been written. On the Hill of Slane, can also provide customised magical sages and fabulous fairytales. St. Patrick ceremoniously ignited the flame of itineraries of County Meath to suit Christianity in Ireland, which has been burning your interests, provide information The Hill of Tara beautifully bears witness to the for almost fifteen hundred years. On the banks on entertainment and leisure activities and reserve epic adventures of Ireland’s royal past, to the of the Boyne, William of Orange and James II accommodation at approved battles and celebrations of the High Kings. met in the famous Battle of the Boyne. facilities throughout Ireland. Fantastic tales of knights and ladies, of humour and valour, become real at the sight of The historical significance of this small section Trim Tourist Information Centre monumental Anglo-Norman castles rising out of the Boyne Valley is unrivalled. Like the Irish Castle Street, Trim of the landscape at Trim. themselves, it is complex, fascinating and +353 (0) 46 943 7227 forever changing. The mysterious imagination and sharp-witted Kells humour of medieval monks still resonate in Tourist Information Centre towns like Kells, where monastic ruins tell the Your tour through Meath is an experience in Headfort Place, Kells story of scholarly refuge in the face of Viking +353 46 924 9336 living history in a special place where special raids. The fanciful illuminated pages of the Book things happen. Enjoy the experience. Brú na Bóinne, Newgrange of Kells speak volumes about the mindset of Tourist Information Centre monks from Iona and Kells where complex Brú na Bóinne, Donore +353 (0) 41 988 0305 compositions of geometric patterns and organic shapes hide insider jokes and wry observations on life. Ireland’s ancients had something to say. They said it so that we could hear their message with Callsave (from Ireland) our eyes. The art and architecture of Meath’s 1850 300 789 neolithic sites at Loughcrew and Brú na Bóinne Call + 353 1 835 8022 elegantly attest to an eternally modern vision of www.meathtourism.ie the world. When seen with the eyes of the [email protected] ancients, the abstract beauty of the stone carvings in these passage graves pose another question - are they maps of the heavens, tracking the soul’s lost loved ones? This Heritage Trail is published by Meath Tourism Ltd., Ashbourne, Co. Meath. Quite possibly. It is an application of the Meath Brand Identity, financed by Meath LEADER, Boyne Drive Route the NRDP and EU Initiative for Rural Development 2000-2006. Photographic images © Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Eoin Clarke Meath Heritage Trail 12/23/04 12:05 PM Page 2 1 4 6 9 The Hill of Tara Rathcairn Loughcrew Cairns Brú na Bóinne The spectacular passage The past is visibly The village of Loughcrew, tells of grave at Newgrange is Meath’s Royal Past The Medieval Town of the Ireland’s neolithic Life, Death and the Hereafter Neolithic Vision engraved in the Rathcairn is home to a the jewel in the crown undulating landscape at At the Hill of Tara, Irish myth, legend and lively Gaelic speaking Yellow Ford cultures, shrouded in Not all inhabitants of Loughcrew rest of Brú na Bóinne. The The visual artistry of Ireland’s ancient Tara, where the hillside history are one - this magical site has been community, where myth and mystery. One peacefully in the ancient soil of the area. site houses over 90 civilisations remains to this day strikingly is marked by ancient visitors interested in Athboy (Town of the Yellow Ford) is a legend has it that the monuments and home to gods and goddesses, to druids and St Oliver Plunkett, a heroic 17th century fresh and modern. Knowth’s burial earthworks, mound Irish language, music medieval town with some of its original wall burial mounds were earthworks. Newgrange formations and the ruins warriors, and to Ireland’s High Kings. Tara created by a witch archbishop who was born in the area, was and Knowth are open chambers and satelite tombs boast the and song will find still intact. The Church of Ireland boasts an of royal enclosures. much enjoyment. jumping from one hill to to the public. Visitors is imbued with a magical, mythical convicted of treason and hanged, drawn can view Dowth from richest and largest collection of megalithic interesting medieval table tomb. Two miles the next dropping Location atmosphere. It is the stuff of legends, the Other Attractions and quartered in the Tower of London the outside. art in Europe. Whorls and diamonds, lines 15 mins south of from Athboy is the Hill of Ward - an Iron Age stones from her apron home of gods and heroes, not mere mortals. Hill of Ward after refusing to submit to the fiercely and dots are gathered together into Navan off the N3 Fort which was once seat of the High Kings to form the cairns. Location 2 miles outside Athboy The Hill of Tara has a strange effect on Location anti-Catholic laws of his time.