Duleek is a small town in County Meath, Ireland. It is a good stop on any tours of Ireland. The town began as an early Christian monastic settlement. Saint Patrick established a bishopric here around 450 AD, and placed it in the care of Saint Cianán. When the High...
This wonderful castle is close to the famous “Hill of Tara”. At Ireland and Scotland Luxury Tours we often combine visits to these two hidden gems. The castle dates from the 13th century but has been modernised. It is owned by the Plunkett family and they have lived...
Dowth mound is 50 feet high and 200 feet in diameter. On the day of Winter Solstice, in the astral calendar, sunlight enters the tomb to shine on a decorated stone. It is interesting to wander the site and contemplate the mystery. The creators were the most advanced Neolithic civilisation in...
A site of mythical importance, Tara was the political and spiritual centre of Celtic Ireland and the seat of the High Kings until the 11th century. The spread of Christianity, which eroded the importance of Tara, is marked by a statue of St Patrick. The...
The most impressive Stone Age tomb in Europe stands on a hill above the Boyne’s fertile valley, part of a huge prehistoric cemetery known as Burgh na Boinne. It is older than Stonehenge, and even older than the Egyptian Pyramids. A pear-shaped mound, Newgrange reaches...
Bective Abbey, on the left bank of the Boyne close to Bective Bridge is one of the more picturesque of the ruined abbeys of Meath. It was founded in 1147 for Cistercians by Murchad O’Melaghlin, King of Meath and soon rose to importance, its abbot...
"Sing the peasantry and then Hard-riding country gentlemen" County Meath – known as “royal Meath” from its ancient connection and the Kings of Tara – is a country of democratically level pastures, royally rich grasslands, slow rivers and humid airs. Its wide fields are necessarily intersected by...
Kells/Ceanannus, County Meath One of the great centres of Celtic Christianity. where the Book of Kells may have been written and illustrated, this busy little crossroads today offers numerous reminders of its glorious past. Kells is also known as Ceanannus Mor. In AD 563, St Colmcille, also...
Looking north across the Boyne, Slane is a pretty sight. The main road sweeps down beside a ruined church to a long, narrow bridge, and beyond that, on a hillside, rises the well-planned 18th-century village. The octagonal focal point where the roads meet at its...
The Augustinian priory of Kells – in full, Kells-in-Ossory (or Ceanannas Osraighe), to distinguish it from its more famous namesake in County Meath – was founded by Geoffrey FitzRobert in 1183, shortly after the Anglo-Norman invasion. It was to house the monks he brought to...