- Navan
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Not to be confused with Navan liqueur.
Navan
An Uaimh— Town — Market Square
Location in Ireland
NavanCoordinates: 53°39′10″N 6°40′53″W / 53.6528°N 6.6814°WCoordinates: 53°39′10″N 6°40′53″W / 53.6528°N 6.6814°W Country Ireland Province Leinster County County Meath Dáil Éireann Meath West Elevation 42 m (138 ft) Population (2011)[1] - Town 28,179 - Environs 15,855 Irish Grid Reference N872677 Website meath.ie Navan (
/ˈnævən/; Irish: an Uaimh, meaning "the cave"; etymology disputed) is the county town of County Meath in Ireland. It is one of the few places in the world to have a palindromic name (see list of palindromic places). National legislation was enacted in 1971 which set the town's name as "Navan" in English.[2] The population of the urban area of Navan was 3,166 in 2006. The population of the suburbs was 21,141 in the same year, giving a combined total of 24,851. The population of the town and its environs had increased by 28% since 2002.[3] It has a population of 3,710 according to the 2006 census.Contents
Local government
Navan is the county town or administrative capital of County Meath. Navan is also the name of a Local Electoral Area which includes the town and adjacent parts of the county. The total population of Navan Electoral Area was 38,891 in 2006.[3][4]
Economy
Tara Mine, Europe's largest lead and zinc mine is located in Navan. The town traditionally was famous for carpets (Navan Carpets closed in 2003) and for a thriving furniture industry (Beechmount Home Park). Both are now in decline, or have ceased, as a result of the move away from manufacture to cheaper locations like Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, Navan has rapidly expanded with the Celtic Tiger to become a large dormitory town due to its proximity to Dublin.
Railway
The town has a freight only railway line. Navan was a railway crossroads, with the GNR(I) line from Drogheda to Oldcastle and the MGWR line from Kingscourt to Clonsilla (on the Dublin to Sligo line) passing through the town, connecting at Navan Junction.
The GNR(I) line from Navan to Oldcastle and the MGWR line from Clonsilla to Navan closed in 1963, leaving the lines from Drogheda to Navan and Navan to Kingscourt in place. A spur to Tara Mines on the Navan to Oldcastle trackbed was reinstated in 1977.
As of 2005 the railway is solely used by Iarnród Éireann to bring freight from the local lead and zinc mine, Tara Mines, to Dublin Port. The line from Kingscourt was used for transport of gypsum until quite recently but now this line is unused.
A campaign to have the Clonsilla to Navan line reopened, seeks a commuter service to Dublin, initially via the existing Drogheda line, and then directly through reopening the direct line to Dublin via Dunboyne. The Transport 21 plan envisaged the reopening of Clonsilla services happening in two stages, initially to a park and ride off the M3 at Pace by 2009 and later extending to Navan by 2015. The first stage of the project as far as Pace, Co Meath was completed in 2010, and a daily commuter service to Dublin Docklands Station commenced on 2 September 2010. The second stage of the rail link to Navan has been postponed indefinitely as a consequence of cutbacks in the state's infrastructural spend announced in July 2010.
Education
St. Mary's Church
Navan has a number of secondary schools both private denominational and public inter-denominational and non-denominational. St. Patrick's Classical School is a Roman Catholic boys only school. St. Michael's Loreto Secondary School and St. Joseph's Secondary School at the Mercy Convent are both girls only Roman Catholic convent schools. Beaufort College is a large state owned inter-denominational vocational school. The Abylity College was a parent owned non-denominational school.[5][6]
Navan and the surrounding area has a number of primary schools including town's Catholic boys' primary school Scoil Mhuire which was originally run by the De La Salle Brothers. Pierce Brosnan was a former pupil of St. Anne's Loreto which is situated beside St. Mary's Catholic Church and near to St. Joseph's Mercy.There are also St. Paul's, St. Ultan's, and St. Oliver's primary schools. Scoil Éanna is the town's oldest and largest 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, at Connolly Avenue, a new site. It was originally situated at the Flowerfield area of the town, on the main thoroughfare to Drogheda, in a building which has been sympathetically converted into private accommodation. There is also a multi-denominational Educate Together primary school in the town, sited at Commons Road.
Historical populations Year Pop. ±% 1813 3,802 — 1821 3,500 −7.9% 1831 4,416 +26.2% 1841 5,628 +27.4% 1851 3,979 −29.3% 1861 3,865 −2.9% 1871 4,104 +6.2% 1881 3,873 −5.6% 1891 3,963 +2.3% 1901 3,839 −3.1% 1911 3,934 +2.5% 1926 3,652 −7.2% 1936 4,123 +12.9% 1946 4,102 −0.5% 1951 4,271 +4.1% 1956 4,813 +12.7% 1961 5,255 +9.2% 1966 5,907 +12.4% 1971 6,665 +12.8% 1981 11,136 +67.1% 1986 11,929 +7.1% 1991 11,706 −1.9% 1996 12,810 +9.4% 2002 19,417 +51.6% 2006 24,851 +28.0% 2011 28,179 +13.4% People
Navan was the childhood home of Pierce Brosnan, who appeared in the television series Remington Steele and was the fifth film actor to play James Bond. TV personality Hector Ó hEochagáin, and comedians Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan also hail from Navan.
Other famous Navan people have included Sir Francis Beaufort famous for his wind scale. His birthplace was removed by the local council in the 1990s to make way for a road junction.
Brian Byrne, composer, is a native of Navan and is currently living in L.A. working on film and TV scores. Brian has recently reworked the theme tune for The Late Late Show and scored the upcoming Irish comedy movie Zonad.
Leading Trance producer John O'Callaghan is also from the area.
Entrepreneur Ian Clarke, the man behind Freenet, Revver and SenseArray is also a Navan native.
Dave Murphy of Setanta Sports
Sport
Navan Races (September 2007)Navan is home to many sports teams which have won titles in many various sports. The town has had major success in the Meath Senior Football Championship. Pierce O'Mahony's and Navan Gaels are both defunct GAA clubs. Together they have won 14 Meath Senior Football Championship Titles. Navan O'Mahony's was founded in 1948 and with 17 S.F.C titles they are the most successful football club in County Meath. Páirc Tailteann is located in Navan and is home of the Meath Gaelic football and Hurling teams.
Navan R.F.C. won over 186 trophies in the 1960s and currently compete in the Leinster League Division 1.
Knockharley Cricket Club were founded in 1982 and are the only cricket club in County Meath competing in the Leinster Cricket Union, the clubs most recent success came in 2006 when the 1st XI won the Middle 2 Leinster Cup defeating Mullingar at North Kildare.
Parkvilla Football Club were founded in 1966 and are the highest placed football club in Meath playing in the Leinster Senior League in Senior 1A. They have a very successful schoolboy/girl section which has consistently won the highest honours in the North Eastern Counties Schoolboy League. The club were honoured with a Civic reception by Navan Town Council in 2006 for their contribution to sport and the community in Navan. Their home ground is Claremont Stadium, Commons Road, Navan whom they co-own with Navan Athletic Club.
Navan Sports Clubs Club Sport League Venue Established Navan O'Mahony's Gaelic Athletic Association Senior Football & Hurling Championship Brews Hill 1948 Navan R.F.C. Rugby Union Leinster League Balreask Old 1924 Navan Hockey Club Field hockey Leinster Division 2 Leisurelink Astro 1991 Simonstown Gaels Gaelic Athletic Association Senior Football Championship Simonstown Batterstown 1965 Walterstown G.F.C. Gaelic Athletic Association Senior Football Championship Oldtown 1902 Navan A.C Athletics Athletics Association of Ireland Claremont Stadium 1973 Navan Boxing Club Boxing Irish Boxing Association C.Y.W.S. Hall 1999 Navan Tennis Club Tennis Tennis Tennis Ireland Balreask Old 1976 Parkvilla Football Club Football LSL Senior 1A Claremont Stadium 1966 OMP United Football Meath & District League Tara Court Green 1966 Knockharley Cricket Club Cricket Leinster Cricket Union Veldonstown 1982 Navan Road Club Cycling Cycling Ireland Navan 1953 Other sporting facilities include:
- Aura swimming pool[7]
- Horse Racing, both National Hunt racing and Flat racing, at Navan Racecourse.
Twinning
Navan is twinned with the following places:
Arts
Railway Street in Navan is the home of the Solstice Art Gallery, which is run by Meath County Council and leading art exhibitions are held there regularly.
Meath Arts Group is very active in the area.
Public Art
Sniomh by Betty Newman Maguire in front of Navan Fire Station. A sculpture inspired by the movement of water and the merging of the rivers Boyne and Blackwater.
The Fifth Province by Richard King on the Navan Bypass. A sculpture symbolising the ideal for the cultural integration of all the people of the island of Ireland. Composed of four branches and a central upright stem that symbolises the flowering of hope and peace.
See also
References
- ^ "Actual and percentage change in population 2006 to 2011 by Province County City Urban area Rural area and Electoral division by District, Year and Statistic 2011". Census 2011 - Preliminary Results. Central Statistics Office. 2011. http://www.cso.ie/gaeilge/census/Table8.htm. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ^ "S.I. No. 200/1971:Local Government (Change of Name of Urban District) Order, 1971". http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/plweb-cgi/fastweb?state_id=1265875875&view=ag-view&docrank=55&numhitsfound=64&query_rule=%28%28$query1%29%3C%3DYEAR%3C%3D%28$query2%29%29%20AND%20%28%28$query3%29%29%3Alegtitle%20AND%20%28%28$query4%29%29%3Anumber%20AND%20%28%28$query5%29%29%3Asectionno%20%20AND%20%28%28$query0%29%29&query3=name&docid=12117&docdb=SIs&dbname=Acts&dbname=SIs&starthit=50&sorting=none&operator=and&TemplateName=predoc.tmpl&setCookie=1.
- ^ a b "Census 2006 – Volume 1 – Population Classified by Area" (PDF). Central Statistics Office Census 2006 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland. April 2007. http://www.cso.ie/census/documents/census2006_volume_1_pop_classified_by_area.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
- ^ "Meath Electoral Areas Map" (JPG). Meath County Council. http://meathtourism.ie/LocalAuthorities/Maps/MeathElectoralAreasMap/. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
- ^ "School Details for all open Post Primary Schools in Ireland" (XLS). Education Provider Search. Department of Education and Science (Ireland). 2006. http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/ppschools_epl.xls. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
- ^ "Smith Duff appointed". Drogheda Independent (Independent Newspapers (Ireland)). 15 June 2001. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930221926/http://www.unison.ie/drogheda_independent/stories.php3?ca=41&si=456415&issue_id=4692. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
- ^ [1] RTÉ. Thursday, 20 August 2009 19:16
- ^ "Group visits Navan's twin town in Italy". 19 August 2009. http://www.meathchronicle.ie/news/roundup/articles/2009/08/19/390523. Retrieved 01 September, 2009.
- ^ "Twinning charter signed in Navan". 20 June 2006. http://www.meathlive.com/_news/localarticle.asp?NID=91479&NCID=13. Retrieved 01 September, 2009.
External links
- Meath County Council
- Parkvilla Football Club website
- Navan O'Mahonys Hurling website
- Navan Railway Project.com - Website tracking reinstatement of Rail Passenger services to Navan
- Meath Tourism website managed by Meath County Council
- Meet in Meath website managed by Meath County Council
- Meath Event Guide
- The Meath Echo, Free local newspaper
- The Meath Chronicle, local newspaper
- Navan horse racing official site
- Local Public Speaking Club - Navan Toastmasters
- Eiretrains - Navan Station
- Eiretrains - Navan Junction Station
- [2] - Lantern Bar in Navan. Traditional Irish Music every Wednesday night.
- Costa Systems, Cash registers and POS systems
- Earls Kitchen Cafe
Places in County Meath County town: NavanTowns 
Villages
and townlandsArdcath • Agher • Baile Ghib • Batterstown • Bective • Bellewstown • Bettystown • Boyerstown • Carnaross • Clonard • Clonee • Curraha • Donacarney • Drumconrath • Drumone • Drumree • Duleek • Enfield • Gormanston • Julianstown • Kentstown • Kilcloon • Kildalkey • Kilmainhamwood • Kilmessan • Kiltale • Laytown • Longwood • Monknewton • Mornington • Mosney • Moylagh • Moynalty • Mulhussey • Nobber • Ráth Cairn • Rathmolyon • Skryne • Slane • Stamullen • Summerhill • Yellow FurzeCategory:Geography of County MeathCategories:- Navan
- Closed railways in Ireland
- Horse racing venues in the Republic of Ireland
- Towns and villages in County Meath
- County towns in the Republic of Ireland
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