Navan

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Town in County Meath, Ireland

title: "Navan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["navan", "county-towns-in-the-republic-of-ireland", "towns-and-villages-in-county-meath", "civil-parishes-of-county-meath", "former-urban-districts-in-the-republic-of-ireland", "former-boroughs-in-the-republic-of-ireland"] description: "Town in County Meath, Ireland" topic_path: "geography/ireland" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in County Meath, Ireland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameNavan
native_name
native_name_langga
image_skylineMarketSquareNavan.JPG
image_captionMarket Square
image_shieldNavan Coat of Arms.png
shield_size150px
mapsize230px
map_captionLocation of Navan in Ireland
pushpin_mapIreland#Europe
pushpin_relief1
pushpin_label_positionright
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Ireland
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameIreland
subdivision_type1Province
subdivision_type2County
subdivision_type3Dáil constituency
subdivision_name1Leinster
subdivision_name2County Meath
subdivision_name3Meath West
unit_prefMetric
elevation_m42
population_as_of2022
population_footnotes
population_rank9th
population_blank1_titleUrban
population_blank133,886
website
area_code_typeTelephone area code
area_code+353(0)46
postal_code_typeEircode routing key
postal_codeC15
timezoneWET
utc_offset±0
timezone_DSTIST
utc_offset_DST+1
::

|name = Navan |native_name = |native_name_lang = ga |image_skyline = MarketSquareNavan.JPG |image_caption = Market Square | image_shield = Navan Coat of Arms.png | shield_size = 150px | mapsize = 230px | map_caption = Location of Navan in Ireland | pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe | pushpin_relief = 1 |pushpin_label_position = right |pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland |coordinates = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Ireland |subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_type3 = Dáil constituency |subdivision_name1 = Leinster |subdivision_name2 = County Meath |subdivision_name3 = Meath West |unit_pref = Metric |elevation_m = 42 |population_as_of = 2022 |population_footnotes = |population_rank = 9th |population_blank1_title= Urban |population_blank1 = 33,886 |website = |settlement_type = | area_code_type = Telephone area code | area_code = +353(0)46 | postal_code_type =Eircode routing key | postal_code =C15 |timezone = WET |utc_offset = ±0 |timezone_DST = IST |utc_offset_DST = +1

Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the 2022 census, it had a population of 33,886, making it the fourteenth largest settlement in all of Ireland. The town is in a civil parish of the same name.

Etymology

The Modern Irish name An Uaimh is most likely derived from the prehistoric burial mound An Odhbha, named after Odhbha, the first wife of Érimón. It is likely the result of Odbha being later misunderstood and confused by locals with the similar sounding and much more familiar word uaimh, or uamha, which also has a very similar meaning "cave, crypt or souterrain". The Modern English name Navan is likely either an anglicisation of An Uaimh, which was often written and pronounced An Uamhainn, or of An Odhbha(n). An Uaimh was the town's sole official name from the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 until 1970, when it was changed to Navan. Since the Official Languages Act 2003, both the Irish and English names have had equal status, as in the rest of the State.

History

Prehistory

''An Odhbha''

Originally An Odhbha was probably a prehistoric tumulus, one of many in the Boyne Valley.

Roman Artefacts

A small Roman copper alloy figure was found in the River Boyne near Navan. The figurine most likely represents a Lar, a Roman deity believed to protect the household. It is likely that the figure was placed in the river as a votive offering as in Irish mythology the river was considered divine and to have been created by the goddess Boann (Bóinn in Modern Irish). This belief in the divinity of rivers was shared by the Romans. Two Roman coins have also been found in Navan.

Middle Ages

The town of Navan was founded by the Normans: Hugh de Lacy, who was granted the Lordship of Meath in 1172, awarded the Barony of Navan to one of his knights, Jocelyn de Angulo, who built a fort there, from which the town developed.[[File:"Street, Dublin City" .... is actually Navan (33043056506).jpg|thumb|left|Ludlow Street circa 1900–1939]]

Inside the town walls, Navan consisted of three streets. These were Trimgate Street, Watergate Street and Ludlow Street (which was once called Dublingate Street). The orientation of the three original streets remains from the Middle Ages but the buildings date from the Victorian and Edwardian periods.

More recent history

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/County_Meath_-Navan_Town_Hall-_20180709203701.jpg" caption="[[Navan Town Hall"] ::

Navan Town Hall started life as the local bridewell in 1831 and only became a municipal facility in 1983.

The town's Post Office on Trimgate Street was built in 1908 on the site of an earlier post office. In 1990, the post office was relocated to Kennedy Road. The building of a new shopping centre re-oriented the town's centre. The onetime post office was acquired as the site of the town's first McDonald's restaurant.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Map_of_Navan.png" caption="Map of Navan"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Navan_town_Post_Office_located_on_Trimgate_Street.jpg" caption="Former Post Office converted to a McDonalds"] ::

Bus transport

Navan railway station closed in 1958 meaning buses are the primary method of public transport in the town. Navan is served by several bus routes. The town has no central bus station.

Since 2025, there are two town bus routes operated by Bus Éireann, the NV1 and the NV2.

  • NV1 runs from Gainstown to Dunville Road, serving the town centre and areas of the town east of the Boyne River.
  • NV2 runs from Gainstown to Belcourt, serving the town centre and areas north of the Boyne and Blackwater Rivers.

Navan is also served by a number of other Bus Éireann operated PSO services. The primary of which is the NX service which provides an express service to Dublin City Centre and operates at a frequency of up to every 20 minutes. The 109 which serves a number of other towns in County Meath such as Kells and Dunshauglin, 109X Dublin to Cavan service and the 109A which provides a direct connection to Dublin Airport also serve the town.

Sillan also serve the town. Royal Breffni Tours provide services to Dundalk Institute of Technology. Streamline Coaches provide services to NUI Maynooth.

Education

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Churchnavan.jpg" caption="St. Mary's Church"] ::

Navan has a number of secondary schools, including private denominational and public inter-denominational and non-denominational. St. Patrick's Classical School is a Roman Catholic boys-only school. Loreto Secondary School, St. Michael's at the Loreto Convent, and St. Joseph's Secondary School at the Mercy Convent are both girls-only Roman Catholic convent schools. Coláiste na Mí is a VEC-run school in Johnstown that opened in 2013. Beaufort College is a large state-owned inter-denominational vocational school. The Abylity Secondary College was a parent-owned fee-paying non-denominational school.{{cite web | url = http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/ppschools_epl.xls | title = School Details for all open Post Primary Schools in Ireland | access-date = 2 May 2007 | year = 2006 | format = XLS | publisher = Department of Education and Science (Ireland) | archive-date = 4 March 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060304074031/http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/ppschools_epl.xls | url-status = live | title = Smith Duff appointed | url = http://www.unison.ie/drogheda_independent/stories.php3?ca=41&si=456415&issue_id=4692 | work = Drogheda Independent | publisher = Independent Newspapers (Ireland) | date = 15 June 2001 | access-date = 2 May 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062350/http://www.unison.ie/drogheda_independent/stories.php3?ca=41&si=456415&issue_id=4692 |archive-date = 4 March 2016}}

Navan and the surrounding area have a number of primary schools, including the town's Catholic boys' primary school, Scoil Mhuire, which was originally run by the De La Salle Brothers. Pierce Brosnan is a former pupil of St. Anne's Loreto, which is situated beside St. Mary's Catholic Church and near St. Joseph's Mercy. There are also St. Paul's, St. Stephen's, St. Ultan's, and St. Oliver's primary schools. Scoil Éanna is the town's only gaelscoil. The town's only Church of Ireland secondary school, Preston School, closed in the 1970s. It is now the site of the shopping centre in the town. There is a Church of Ireland primary school known as Flowerfield School, on the Trim Rd., a new site. It was originally situated at the Flowerfield area of the town, on the main thoroughfare to Drogheda, in a building that has been sympathetically converted into private accommodation. There is also a multi-denominational Educate Together primary school in the town, sited at Commons Road.

Demographics

|state = collapsed |1813|3802 |1821|3500 |1831|4416 |1841|5628 |1851|3979 |1861|3865 |1871|4104 |1881|3873 |1891|3963 |1901|3839 |1911|3934 |1926|3652 |1936|4123 |1946|4102 |1951|4271 |1956|4813 |1961|5255 |1966|5907 |1971|6665 |1981|11136 |1986|11929 |1991|11706 |1996|12810 |2002|19417 |2006|24851 |2011|28559 |2016|30173 |2022|33886}}In 2022, there were 33,707 people residing in Navan. In 2022, according to the CSO, the town is 64.2% White Irish and 1.9% Irish Traveller, 17.8% White of any other background, 3.9% Black, 4.1% Asian, 3.6% any other racial background, and 4.3% not stated.

Climate

Navan has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb).

| width = auto | location = Navan

| metric first = yes | single line = yes | Jan mean C = 5.3 | Feb mean C = 5.6 | Mar mean C = 6.7 | Apr mean C = 8.6 | May mean C = 11.5 | Jun mean C = 14.2 | Jul mean C = 15.6 | Aug mean C = 15.2 | Sep mean C = 13.5 | Oct mean C = 10.6 | Nov mean C = 7.5 | Dec mean C = 5.7 | year mean C = | Jan high C = 7.6 | Feb high C = 8.3 | Mar high C = 9.9 | Apr high C = 12.2 | May high C = 15.1 | Jun high C = 17.7 | Jul high C = 18.9 | Aug high C = 18.5 | Sep high C = 16.7 | Oct high C = 13.5 | Nov high C = 9.9 | Dec high C = 8.0 | year high C = | Jan low C = 3.0 | Feb low C = 3.0 | Mar low C = 3.6 | Apr low C = 5.0 | May low C = 7.8 | Jun low C = 10.5 | Jul low C = 12.3 | Aug low C = 12.0 | Sep low C = 10.3 | Oct low C = 7.9 | Nov low C = 5.0 | Dec low C = 3.5 | year low C = | Jan precipitation mm = 65.8 | Feb precipitation mm = 58.4 | Mar precipitation mm = 59.4 | Apr precipitation mm = 60.4 | May precipitation mm = 73.2 | Jun precipitation mm = 75.1 | Jul precipitation mm = 78.1 | Aug precipitation mm = 84.6 | Sep precipitation mm = 69.5 | Oct precipitation mm = 82.9 | Nov precipitation mm = 78.9 | Dec precipitation mm = 75.1 | year precipitation mm = | source 1 = Weather.Directory |title= Navan Weather & Climate Guide |access-date= 26 Jul 2025 |website= Weather.Directory}}

Sport

Gaelic Games

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Cources_a_Navan.JPG" caption="Navan Races (September 2007)"] ::

Navan is home to several GAA clubs, including Navan O'Mahonys and Simonstown Gaels.

Páirc Tailteann is a stadium in Navan and is home of the Meath Gaelic football and Hurling teams

Association football

Parkvilla Football Club was founded in 1966 and currently plays in North East Football league Premier Division and their reserve team competes in Division 3B.

Rugby

Navan R.F.C. currently competes in the All Ireland League (AIL) Division 2A.

Cricket

Knockharley Cricket Club was founded in 1982 and is the only cricket club in County Meath competing in the Leinster Cricket Union. The club's most recent success came in 2006 when the 1st XI won the Middle 2 Leinster Cup, defeating Mullingar at North Kildare.

Public art

Public art and sculptures in Navan include Sniomh, by Betty Newman Maguire, which sits in front of Navan Fire Station. This sculpture is reputedly inspired by the movement of water and the merging of the rivers Boyne and Blackwater.

Another public sculpture, The Fifth Province by Richard King, is located on the Navan Bypass. This sculpture is composed of four branches and a central upright stem that symbolises the flowering of hope and peace.

The Bull, designed by sculptor Colin Grehan, is a prominent piece of public art. Situated in the market square of the town, this is a 16-tonne limestone statue of a bull being held back by two handlers and commemorates the historic bull markets that took place in the area. The statue was surrounded by controversy over its cost, an estimated €90,000, and its location. Local man Paddy Pryle noted that "anybody coming up Timmons Hill, which is one of the main entrances into the town, will be entering Navan via the bull's arse. It is one of the most crazy things I have seen put up yet," Objections to the statue delayed its erection by 8 years.

Folklore

According to local folklore, a Souterrain was discovered near the Navan Viaduct in 1848. The location of its entrance has since been lost.

Another folk tale involves the ghost of Francis Ledwidge. According to the story an old friend of Ludwidge was working at the Meath Chronicle, the local news printer, when he heard the sound of Ledwidge's motorcycle outside. His friend was confused as he believed Ledwidge was fighting on the Western Front; upon going out to greet him the friend found that Ledwidge had disappeared. The story claims that this ghostly apparition appeared at the same moment he died.

In the Fenian cycle of Irish mythology, Fionn mac Cumhaill studied under the druid Finegas along the river Boyne. He is believed to have caught the Salmon of Knowledge in what is now Navan.

Twinning

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Republic of Ireland

Navan is twinned with the following places:

Notable people

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/FrancisBeaufort.jpg" caption="Sir Francis Beaufort"] ::

References

References

  1. (2022). "Census 2022 Profile 1 - Population Distribution and Movement". [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland).
  2. "An Uaimh/Navan".
  3. "Navan {{!}} Meath County Council Online Consultation Portal".
  4. "Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): uamha".
  5. "Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): uaimh".
  6. "Interpreting Irish Local Names (Origin of the name Navan) - Wonders of Ireland".
  7. "Navan Historical Society - Navan and An Uaimh".
  8. "S.I. No. 200/1971:Local Government (Change of Name of Urban District) Order, 1971".
  9. "Official Languages Act 2003".
  10. "Roman Figurine from the Boyne Valley".
  11. "Navan Historical Society - Roman Finds in Navan".
  12. Crinion, Mairéad. (2013). "Navan - its People and its Past". Navan & District Historical Society.
  13. "New Settlers in Meath - Irish Pedigrees".
  14. "County Meath, Navan, Bridewell". Dictionary of Irish Architects.
  15. "Trimgate Street". Navan & District Historical Society.
  16. "McDonald's, Trimgate Street, TOWNPARKS, Navan, County Meath". [[National Inventory of Architectural Heritage]].
  17. "Navan Post Office, 37 Trimgate Street, Townparks, Navan, Meath". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
  18. "Navan Town Bus Services".
  19. "Bus Timetables - Sillan Coach Hire".
  20. "Royal Breffni Tours".
  21. "Streamline Coaches Luxury coach hire - Timetables".
  22. "Interactive Data Visualisations {{!}} CSO Ireland".
  23. "parkvillafc.net".
  24. "Sníomh by Betty Newman-Maguire". [[Meath County Council]].
  25. "The Fifth Province by Richard E. King". [[Meath County Council]].
  26. "Navan Points of Pride". Meath County Council.
  27. Daly, Susan. (12 April 2011). "Navan statue: a load of bull or taking the town by the horns?".
  28. Finegan, Noelle. (30 March 2011). "After a decade of controversy, bull sculpture is now in place". [[Meath Chronicle]].
  29. Holten, Anthony. (2016). "The River Boyne: Hidden legacies, history and lore explored on foot and by boat".
  30. Marsh, Richard. (2013). "Meath Folk Tales". The History Press Ireland.
  31. (30 May 2020). "Fionn mac Cumhail and the Salmon of Knowledge".
  32. "Twinning".
  33. Donohoe, John. (19 August 2009). "Group visits Navan's twin town in Italy". [[Meath Chronicle]].
  34. (20 June 2006). "Twinning charter signed in Navan".
  35. (27 May 2019). "elections 2019 making-history gogglebox-star-elected as irelands-first-black-female councillor". Irish Independent.
  36. {{cite DNB. Laughton. John Knox
  37. (11 November 1999). "Pierce Brosnan honoured by Navan Town". RTÉ News.
  38. "Senator Shane Cassells". Fianna Fáil.
  39. (3 August 2005). "Irishman to shake up file sharing". Irish Times.
  40. (23 January 2022). "Curtis brothers sign pro deals with St Patrick's Athletic".
  41. (2 October 2020). "Cyclist and seafaring engineer with passion for River Boyne".
  42. "Navan Historical Society - Publications".
  43. (16 November 2015). "Grainne Maguire: 'Why I decided to live tweet my menstrual cycle to Enda Kenny'". Irish Times.
  44. "Helen McEntee, TD".
  45. (13 July 2018). "Dylan Moran: 'Smoking or breathing, one of them had to go'". Irish Times.
  46. "Hector O'Heochagain". Meath County Council.
  47. (12 December 2018). "Tommy Tiernan speaks about growing up in Navan".
  48. (8 December 2007). "Navan-born priest is third to occupy Vatican position". Meath Chronicle.

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navancounty-towns-in-the-republic-of-irelandtowns-and-villages-in-county-meathcivil-parishes-of-county-meathformer-urban-districts-in-the-republic-of-irelandformer-boroughs-in-the-republic-of-ireland