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Danestown Ringfort - Co Meath |
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Danestown Ringfort at Danestown County
Meath is without doubt one of the most
impressive ringforts, where the inner
raised circular platform is over four
metres high with a deep fosse (ditch),
pictured right and outer bank, the outer
bank is over two metres high in places.
The ringfort has a diameter of about 150
feet. |
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Newgrange - Co Meath |
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Newgrange was
constructed over 5,000 years ago (about
3,200 B.C.), making it older than
Stonehenge in England and the Great
Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Newgrange was
built during the Neolithic or New Stone
Age by a farming community that
prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne
Valley. Knowth and Dowth are similar
mounds that together with Newgrange have
been designated a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO. |
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Trim Castle,
Trim, Co Meath |
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Trim Castle on the shores of the Boyne
has an area of 30,000 m². It is the
remains of Ireland's largest castle. The
Castle was used as a centre of Norman
administration for the Liberty of Meath,
one of the new administrative areas of
Ireland created by Henry II of England
and granted to Hugh de Lacy. de Lacy
took possession of it in 1172. The film
‘Braveheart’ staring Mel Gibson chose
Trim in County Meath as the shooting
location for the epic thriller. |
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The Yellow Steeple - Co Meath |
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The Yellow Steeple, Co Meath takes its
name from the golden colour of the
stonework at sunset. It is a tall tower
that was originally part of an
Augustinian Abbey, St Mary's. |
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Bective Abbey, Navan
Road, Co Meath |
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Bective Abbey was founded in 1147 by
Murchadh O' Melaghin, King of Meath, for
the Cistercians, and was dedicated to
the Blessed Virgin. It was an abbey of
some importance as the Abbot was a
spiritual lord and sat in the Parliament
of the Pale. Hugh De Lacy, was buried
there in 1195, but was eventually moved
to Dublin. The abbey was suppressed in
1536 and the lands were rented to Thomas
Asgarde, and eventually bought by Andrew
Wyse in 1552. It passed into the hands
of the Dillons and then the Boltons,
before falling into ruin. The chief
features of the ruins are the
combination of both Church and Defence.
The Cloister is the best preserved of
the buildings and there is a pillar of a
figure carrying a crozier. There are
also some beautiful arches which are
still intact |
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Athlumney Castle,
Navan Road, Co Meath It comprises a mid-fifteenth-century
tower house, built by the Dowdall
family, which was considerably enlarged
around 1630 by a long, narrow gabled
mansion with large mullioned windows and
a fine oriel window. The tower house has
four storeys, with an attic and four
projecting corner turrets of different
sizes containing the stair, latrines and
small chambers. In the south wall of the
first floor there is a secret mural
chamber reached down narrow stairs from
above - created, one assumes, to hide
priests, for the Dowdalls remained
strong Catholics.
Hill of Tara is about 1.6 kms to the right off the main Navan/
Dublin Road.There is a wealth of history and legend associated
with Royal Tara as the ancient spiritual and political Capital of
Ireland, and its central place in Irish History, which attracts
ongoing, national and international interest. For here on this
lonely hill, once stood a royal acropolis.For well over two
thousand years royalty occupied Tara. The view from the hill is
one of the best features. The surrounding countryside is
considered to be one of the richest pastureland in the whole of
Ireland. Here at the cultural and
political heart of the country every third year there was a great
Feis (fair or festival) held at which the laws and the rules of
the land were discussed and revised. Located just 15 mins from
Navan off the N3.
Kells High Crosses in the centre of
Kells town is St. Columba's Church of
Ireland whose cemetery contains the
round tower, several high crosses and
nearby, an ancient oratory said to be
the house of St. Columcille. The town of
Kells is situated northwest of Dublin in
the historic Boyne Valley.
The South Cross, closest to the
roundtower seems to be the earliest of
the Kells crosses, dating to the very
earliest 9th century. Standing 3.3
meters high, it is carved from a single
block of sandstone.
The Book of Kells, an illuminated
Latin Gospel Book was completed here
during the thriving years of the
monastic community. The actual Book
resides at Trinity College in Dublin,
but a beautiful replica can be viewed in
the museum in the Heritage Center. The
town of Kells has placed historical
plaques with information about the
buildings they mark throughout the town.
Tullynally Castle
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