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NAVAN
Situated
at the confluence of the rivers Boyne and Blackwater, Navan is the
prosperous administrative capital of Meath. The ancient Hill og
Tara, just a short distance from Navan, has been an important site
since the Stone Age. Tara imbues the area with a mythical, magical
atmosphere. It is the former 'Seat of the High Kings og Ireland',
a place where popular beliefs marry with Celtic myth and legend.
Tara is the home of gods and heroes, not of ordinary humans. Abandoned
in 1022, Tara is now a national monumentall year to the public.
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ATHLUMNEY
CASTLE, ATHLUMNEY,
This is a
settlement complex where one can trace the changing forms of manorial
building in Mealh since the Norman conquest; there is the motte
or artificial hill of the first settlement in the late 12th century.
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ARDMULCHAN
CHURCH, ARDMULCHAN,
Situated on
the bank of the Boyne, all that remains of the medieval church are
a bell tower and shell of the church. BECTIVE ABBEY, Bective Abbey
is today a substantial medieval remains of the second Cistercian
monastery founded in Ireland in 1147. The remains are chiefly of
a smaller 15th century abbey built on the site of the 12th and l3th
century early Gothic complex.
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DALGAN
PARK - MISSION AWARENESS CENTRE, DUBLIN ROAD,
This is the
college of missionary priests, originally bound for a life in China.
Built in 1939 it is an adaptation of the Hi bemo-Romanesque style.
It contains a collection of Chinese art and artifacts with a folk
collection from Burma and the Philippines, all areas where Dalgan
missionaries have worked. The college can be seen from the Hill
of Tara.
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DONAGHMORE
ROUND TOWER & CHURCH
This was a massive
15lh century keep, overlooking the River Boyne. It was the house
of the D'arcy family, one of whose members save the immortal answer
to the acquisition of treachery for having enlerEained the 2 kings,
James and William of the Battle of the Boyne fame. "Who'll be king,
I don't know, but I'll be Darcy of Dunmore".
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DINING
OUT
There are
many places to eath great food around the house area. China Gardens
58 Brews Hill Leighsbrook Steakhouse 23 Railway Street The loft
26 Trimgate Street Mimo Valdi's 15 Ludlow Street The Ardboyne
Hotel Dublin Road The Beechmount Hotel Trim Road.
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HILL
OF SKRYNE
(OPPOSITE TARA)
(1.6km north of Navan/DuhIin Road) Skryne, called after the Shrine
of St. Colmcilles relics, was an early Christian Monastery. The
15th century hoty well there is dedicated to St. Colmcille. From
the hills one can see the molle ofDe Phirpo. fu-sl baron of Skryne
and the castle which replaced it.
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Neolithic
Vision
Little is truly
known about the thoughts and, feelings of Ireland's Neolithic cultures.
There are plenty of scientific descriptions of the passage tombs
at Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth; descriptions of material, height,
width, components. What about the vision behind the material? The
mathematical genius behind the architecture? The way the sun illuminates
Newgrange's central chamber on the moring of the winter solstice?
This is best experienced, notdescrib.
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Ancient
Astronomers, Modern Artists
The visual artistry of Ireland's ancient civilisations remains to
this day strikingly fresh and modern. Knowth's two burial chambers
boast the richest and largest collection of megalithic art in Europe.
Whorls and diamonds, lines and dots are gathered together into compositions
of startling sophistication. Looking at these images wfth modern
eyes one is struck by their surprisingly abstract decorative beauty.
And when seen with the eyes of the ancients in the world of the
passage tomb? Are they maps of the heavens, tracking the soul's
lost loved ones? Quite possibly.
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