Bohermeen
Encyclopedia
Bohermeen is a Roman Catholic parish
in the Irish
Diocese of Meath
. Its English name is a corruption of an ancient Irish language
name, An Bóthar Mín, which meant the smooth road. Originally one of the five famed ancient roadways that led from the mediæval capital of Ireland, Tara, approximately 10 miles away cut through the area. The quality of the roadway, in an era of dirt-roads (which still exist today), earned for it the nickname of the smooth road, An Bóthar Mín.
For nearly fourteen hundred years the local area went by the name of Ard Braccan
or Ardbraccan, meaning the height of Braccan, the hill on which St. Braccan located his mediæval monastery and which in the 9th century became a diocese with its own bishop. Even when the diocese of Ardbraccan joined with other small dioceses such as Fore and Kells
to form the Diocese of Meath, Braccan's hill became the location of the palace of the Bishop of Meath.
Following the establishment of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland
Ardbraccan became the seat of the Protestant Lord Bishop of Meath
. Anglican bishops continued to live in the area until 1958. When in the nineteenth century the Roman Catholic Church re-established a local parish in the area, it was decided to use a different name to the local Church of Ireland parish of Ardbraccan. 'Bohermeen' became the chosen name. A curate
in the parish of Navan
, the large town nearby, Dean Cogan
, who himself had once served as a curate in Bohermeen, and who wrote the acclaimed History of the Diocese of Meath (2 Vols) in the 1860s bemoaned the choice of the secular Bohermeen (or Bohermien as he wrote it) as the parish name ahead of the more religious Ardbraccan
name.
population (see below), though that dwindled significantly in the 19th and 20th centuries. The population was hit to a minor extent by the Second Great Famine in the mid-19th century. Local folklorists record the disappearance of entire pre-famine settlements in, for example, the townland
of Greetiagh within the parish. Though the records of the period are scant, folklore recorded anonymous deaths of parishioners in some of the ancient mediæval graveyards, notably at Markiestown, where the last burials in the ancient (now destroyed) cemetery were believed to have occurred in the famine era.
The landholdings of the era were recorded as part of Griffith's Valuation
, a major land survey carried out in Ireland between 1848 and 1864.
The major land reform of the late 19th century changed the landownership pattern. The breakup of the large estates of the gentry
saw most parishioners move from being tenant farmers to small landowners in their own right.
As late as the 1930s a project carried out by the Irish Folklore Commission
, in which school children were asked to write down their description of their areas, recorded that most houses in the area were thatched cottages. However almost all the traditional thatched houses were knocked down in succeeding decades. The last thatched house in the parish was demolished in the 1990s.
, a relatively high hill on the flat plains of Meath, where it was claimed the ancient Irish king Niall of the Nine Hostages
was buried. It also contains one of Ireland's most highly regarded Palladian country houses, Ardbraccan House
, until 1885 the residence of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath.It also contains an ancient tower house
known as Durhamstown Castle, which was once owned by the Earl of Essex
, Queen Elizabeth I
's Lord Deputy
in Ireland, and which is still lived in.
era, in 1817. It was built in cruciform
form. The cultural and class divisions of 19th century Ireland were reflected in the usage of the building. In the aftermath of the Roman Catholic revival of the 1850s, Catholic social and gender mores were reflected in the usage of the building, with different sides of the aisle described by the community as men's and women's.
The building underwent periodic renovations. A new roof was added in 1897 while the wooden altar
was replaced by a new set of marble altar, altar rails
and reredos
(all shown in the photograph above). A set of new stained glass
windows were installed, notably a window of the crucifixon over the reredos and main altar.
The church was clumsily re-ordered in the aftermath of Vatican II. In the mid-1980s a complete rebuild of the church was undertaken. It was squared instead of remaining cruciform, with its high stained glass windows relocated. The reredos and altar rails were removed, while the tabernacle
was re-located. The re-ordering remains somewhat controversial.
respectively. It covers an area once served by a large number of mediæval parishes, including Moyaher, Killenagolach (later called Grange
) and Markiestown (also called Durhamstown - which over the centuries was spelt variously as 'Dormstown', 'Durmstown' and 'Dorreanstown'). None of these have surviving churches, as all were destroyed during the Reformation
and the Penal period
. Some old graveyards do survive, notably at Moyaher, which contains rare surviving examples of pre-Irish Great Famine gravestones and their unique carvings. The remains of cemetery at Markiestown, (a large mound in the centre of a very large field) having survived the reformation and the famine, was controversially bulldozed in the 1970s to create land for tillage.
These changes included the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869 which undermined the financial viability of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath's landed estate and led to the laying off of his mainly Protestant staff and the land reforms of the 1880s to the early 1900s, which saw the breakup of the large Protestant estates such as the Waller estate at Allenstown House
, and their sale to their Catholic tenantry, again costing many local Protestants their jobs running the estates.
The impact of the First World War, when many Irish Protestant families lost some or all of their sons at Ypres
and the Somme
left large numbers of families without heirs and Protestant daughters without Protestant potential husbands, had a devastating impact, an impact augmented separately by Pope Pius X
's Ne Temere
decree, which demanded that all children of Catholic-Protestant marriages be brought up as Catholic (previously, the tradition had been that the boys would be brought up in the religion of their father, the girls in the religion of their mothers). This resulted in a situation where a marriage of a Protestant to a Catholic meant the end of the Protestant line in the family.
In addition, The Troubles
during the Irish War of Independence lead many Protestants, who had identified with the ancien regime of British rule in Dublin Castle
to move to the United Kingdom
. A combination of changing economic structures, changing class structures, changing religious structures, changing political structures, changing marriage patterns and the First World War produced a terminal decline in the numbers of Protestants in the area. Whereas once the Protestant community counted among its number one bishop, two churches, all the landed gentry, many of their staff and a local rector, as well as a local Protestant primary school, all have gone, with the ancient St. Ultan's Church of Ireland in Ardbraccan ceasing to be used for Divine Service in 1981. One of the last members of the Church of Ireland in the locality, the former owner of Durhamstown Castle
, Samuel McClelland, died in 2003.
In the mid 1980s the former owner of Ardbraccan House, Colonel Foster, decided to repair the dangerously decayed roof on the thousand year old church spire at the deconsecrated Anglican Church, local timber merchants supplied timber for the work free of charge, along with staff to do the reroofing. When Colonel and Mrs Foster, who had moved into the old schoolhouse at the entrance to the Anglican Church grounds, decided to take on the task of restoring the derelict cemetery, in which both Anglican and Catholic people from the area were buried, the local Catholic parish joined the efforts, offering resources and manpower. The communities sought and received state assistance so that the historic burial ground could be fully restored and preserved.
Just as its nearest town, Navan, has become a dormitory town to Dublin 30 miles away, so it has become a collection of dormitory townlands to Navan, which itself is expected within a generation to reach city size. Whereas most of its employment was once farm-based, over 40% now would in urban centres, Trim
, Kells
, Navan
and Dublin, commuting long distances.
A controversial new M3 motorway linking the towns of Cavan
and Kells with Dublin is scheduled to cut through farmland within sight of Ardbraccan House and the ancient monastery site in Ardbraccan, before slicing through the archaeologically sensitive site of Tara, the capital of Ireland under the Árd Rí
(High King of Ireland) in mediæval times.
Though the proposed route of the motorway at Tara has been the subject of an international outcry from academics, historians, environmentalists and others, the Irish government under the then Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern
and his successor Brian Cowan, publicly supports the plans, and condemned those who criticise them. A legal challenge is being planned to try to force the National Roads Authority to select an alternative route.
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
in the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Diocese of Meath
Diocese of Meath
The Diocese of Meath is an Irish diocese which took its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it still exists as a separate diocese, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other dioceses.-History:...
. Its English name is a corruption of an ancient Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
name, An Bóthar Mín, which meant the smooth road. Originally one of the five famed ancient roadways that led from the mediæval capital of Ireland, Tara, approximately 10 miles away cut through the area. The quality of the roadway, in an era of dirt-roads (which still exist today), earned for it the nickname of the smooth road, An Bóthar Mín.
History
Ardbraccan
Ardbraccan is an ancient place of Christian worship in County Meath, Ireland. It is the location of the former residence of the Roman Catholic, then, after the Reformation, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath. It is located approximately 30 miles from Dublin.-Origins:Ardbraccan originated as a...
or Ardbraccan, meaning the height of Braccan, the hill on which St. Braccan located his mediæval monastery and which in the 9th century became a diocese with its own bishop. Even when the diocese of Ardbraccan joined with other small dioceses such as Fore and Kells
Kells, County Meath
Kells is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. In recent years Kells has grown greatly with many Dublin commuters moving to the town....
to form the Diocese of Meath, Braccan's hill became the location of the palace of the Bishop of Meath.
Following the establishment of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
Ardbraccan became the seat of the Protestant Lord Bishop of Meath
Bishop of Meath
The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric.-History:...
. Anglican bishops continued to live in the area until 1958. When in the nineteenth century the Roman Catholic Church re-established a local parish in the area, it was decided to use a different name to the local Church of Ireland parish of Ardbraccan. 'Bohermeen' became the chosen name. A curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
in the parish of Navan
Navan
-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....
, the large town nearby, Dean Cogan
Dean Cogan
Dean Cogan was a nineteenth century Roman Catholic Irish priest, , who wrote a history of the Diocese of Meath in Ireland...
, who himself had once served as a curate in Bohermeen, and who wrote the acclaimed History of the Diocese of Meath (2 Vols) in the 1860s bemoaned the choice of the secular Bohermeen (or Bohermien as he wrote it) as the parish name ahead of the more religious Ardbraccan
Ardbraccan
Ardbraccan is an ancient place of Christian worship in County Meath, Ireland. It is the location of the former residence of the Roman Catholic, then, after the Reformation, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath. It is located approximately 30 miles from Dublin.-Origins:Ardbraccan originated as a...
name.
Population and landholdings
The area known as Bohermeen has had a predominantly Roman Catholic population according to every census done. It did however have a sizeable Church of IrelandChurch of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
population (see below), though that dwindled significantly in the 19th and 20th centuries. The population was hit to a minor extent by the Second Great Famine in the mid-19th century. Local folklorists record the disappearance of entire pre-famine settlements in, for example, the townland
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
of Greetiagh within the parish. Though the records of the period are scant, folklore recorded anonymous deaths of parishioners in some of the ancient mediæval graveyards, notably at Markiestown, where the last burials in the ancient (now destroyed) cemetery were believed to have occurred in the famine era.
The landholdings of the era were recorded as part of Griffith's Valuation
Griffith's valuation
Griffith's Valuation was a survey of Ireland completed in 1868. -Griffith's background:Richard John Griffith started to value land in Scotland, where he spent two years in 1806-1807 valuing terrain through the examination of its soils...
, a major land survey carried out in Ireland between 1848 and 1864.
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
saw most parishioners move from being tenant farmers to small landowners in their own right.
As late as the 1930s a project carried out by the Irish Folklore Commission
Irish Folklore Commission
The Irish Folklore Commission was set up in 1935 by the Irish Government to study and collect information on the folklore and traditions of Ireland....
, in which school children were asked to write down their description of their areas, recorded that most houses in the area were thatched cottages. However almost all the traditional thatched houses were knocked down in succeeding decades. The last thatched house in the parish was demolished in the 1990s.
Environment
The parish of Bohermeen contains within its boundaries Faughan HillFaughan Hill
Faughan Hill is a low hill approximately five miles to the northwest of Navan, County Meath, Ireland. It is owned by the McCabes, Dunnes, and the Englishs, and the highest point by Moriarty's and is not a public park....
, a relatively high hill on the flat plains of Meath, where it was claimed the ancient Irish king Niall of the Nine Hostages
Niall of the Nine Hostages
Niall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
was buried. It also contains one of Ireland's most highly regarded Palladian country houses, Ardbraccan House
Ardbraccan House
Ardbraccan House is a large Palladian country house in County Meath in the Republic of Ireland...
, until 1885 the residence of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath.It also contains an ancient tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
known as Durhamstown Castle, which was once owned by the Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals. The earldom was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey II de Mandeville . Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct...
, Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
's Lord Deputy
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
in Ireland, and which is still lived in.
St Ultan's Church
The main parish church, St. Ultan's, was first built in the pre-Catholic EmancipationCatholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
era, in 1817. It was built in cruciform
Cruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
form. The cultural and class divisions of 19th century Ireland were reflected in the usage of the building. In the aftermath of the Roman Catholic revival of the 1850s, Catholic social and gender mores were reflected in the usage of the building, with different sides of the aisle described by the community as men's and women's.
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
was replaced by a new set of marble altar, altar rails
Altar rails
Altar rails are a set of railings, sometimes ornate and frequently of marble or wood, delimiting the chancel in a church, the part of the sanctuary that contains the altar. A gate at the centre divides the line into two parts. The sanctuary is a figure of heaven, into which entry is not guaranteed...
and reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
(all shown in the photograph above). A set of new stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows were installed, notably a window of the crucifixon over the reredos and main altar.
The church was clumsily re-ordered in the aftermath of Vatican II. In the mid-1980s a complete rebuild of the church was undertaken. It was squared instead of remaining cruciform, with its high stained glass windows relocated. The reredos and altar rails were removed, while the tabernacle
Church tabernacle
A tabernacle is the fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is "reserved" . A less obvious container, set into the wall, is called an aumbry....
was re-located. The re-ordering remains somewhat controversial.
Organisation of the parish
Bohermeen parish itself consists of three sub-parishes; Bohermeen itself, Boyerstown and Cortown, each with their own church, St. Ultan's (formerly called St. Cuthbert's), St. Cuthbert's and Christ the KingChrist the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture. It is used by most Christians. The Roman Catholic Church, together with many Protestant denominations, including the Anglican Churches, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the...
respectively. It covers an area once served by a large number of mediæval parishes, including Moyaher, Killenagolach (later called Grange
Grange
-Buildings:* Grange House , Bo'ness, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906* Hamilton Grange National Memorial, a historic house in New York City...
) and Markiestown (also called Durhamstown - which over the centuries was spelt variously as 'Dormstown', 'Durmstown' and 'Dorreanstown'). None of these have surviving churches, as all were destroyed during the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
and the Penal period
Penal Laws (Ireland)
The term Penal Laws in Ireland were a series of laws imposed under English and later British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour of members of the established Church of Ireland....
. Some old graveyards do survive, notably at Moyaher, which contains rare surviving examples of pre-Irish Great Famine gravestones and their unique carvings. The remains of cemetery at Markiestown, (a large mound in the centre of a very large field) having survived the reformation and the famine, was controversially bulldozed in the 1970s to create land for tillage.
Disestablishment & land reform
The Ardbraccan/Bohermeen area contained a thriving Protestant community until the early twentieth century. However a series of unrelated economic, social and religious changes led to the large-scale disappearance of the Church of Ireland community.These changes included the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869 which undermined the financial viability of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath's landed estate and led to the laying off of his mainly Protestant staff and the land reforms of the 1880s to the early 1900s, which saw the breakup of the large Protestant estates such as the Waller estate at Allenstown House
Allenstown House
Allenstown House was a large five-bay, four-story Georgian mansion in County Meath, Ireland. It was built in around 1750 by William Waller.The final owner was Vice-Admiral Arthur William Craig who assumed the surname Craig-Waller when he inherited the property in 1920 from a distant relative. In...
, and their sale to their Catholic tenantry, again costing many local Protestants their jobs running the estates.
The Great War & Ne Temere
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
and the Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
left large numbers of families without heirs and Protestant daughters without Protestant potential husbands, had a devastating impact, an impact augmented separately by Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
's Ne Temere
Ne Temere
Ne Temere was a decree of the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Council regulating the canon law of the Church about marriage for practising Roman Catholics....
decree, which demanded that all children of Catholic-Protestant marriages be brought up as Catholic (previously, the tradition had been that the boys would be brought up in the religion of their father, the girls in the religion of their mothers). This resulted in a situation where a marriage of a Protestant to a Catholic meant the end of the Protestant line in the family.
In addition, The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
during the Irish War of Independence lead many Protestants, who had identified with the ancien regime of British rule in Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
to move to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. A combination of changing economic structures, changing class structures, changing religious structures, changing political structures, changing marriage patterns and the First World War produced a terminal decline in the numbers of Protestants in the area. Whereas once the Protestant community counted among its number one bishop, two churches, all the landed gentry, many of their staff and a local rector, as well as a local Protestant primary school, all have gone, with the ancient St. Ultan's Church of Ireland in Ardbraccan ceasing to be used for Divine Service in 1981. One of the last members of the Church of Ireland in the locality, the former owner of Durhamstown Castle
Durhamstown Castle
Durhamstown Castle is a 500 year old towerhouse in the townland of Durhamstown of the civil parish of Ardbraccan which is in the barony of Lower Navan, in County Meath in Ireland.The precise origins of the building are unknown....
, Samuel McClelland, died in 2003.
Today
Just as its nearest town, Navan, has become a dormitory town to Dublin 30 miles away, so it has become a collection of dormitory townlands to Navan, which itself is expected within a generation to reach city size. Whereas most of its employment was once farm-based, over 40% now would in urban centres, Trim
Trim, County Meath
Trim is the traditional county town of County Meath in Ireland, although the county town is now Navan. The town was recorded in the 2006 census to have a population of 6,870....
, Kells
Kells, County Meath
Kells is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. In recent years Kells has grown greatly with many Dublin commuters moving to the town....
, Navan
Navan
-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....
and Dublin, commuting long distances.
Cavan
Cavan is the county town of County Cavan in the Republic of Ireland. The town lies in the north central part of Ireland, near the border with Northern Ireland...
and Kells with Dublin is scheduled to cut through farmland within sight of Ardbraccan House and the ancient monastery site in Ardbraccan, before slicing through the archaeologically sensitive site of Tara, the capital of Ireland under the Árd Rí
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
(High King of Ireland) in mediæval times.
Though the proposed route of the motorway at Tara has been the subject of an international outcry from academics, historians, environmentalists and others, the Irish government under the then Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
and his successor Brian Cowan, publicly supports the plans, and condemned those who criticise them. A legal challenge is being planned to try to force the National Roads Authority to select an alternative route.
See also
- ArdbraccanArdbraccanArdbraccan is an ancient place of Christian worship in County Meath, Ireland. It is the location of the former residence of the Roman Catholic, then, after the Reformation, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath. It is located approximately 30 miles from Dublin.-Origins:Ardbraccan originated as a...
- Ardbraccan HouseArdbraccan HouseArdbraccan House is a large Palladian country house in County Meath in the Republic of Ireland...
- Allenstown HouseAllenstown HouseAllenstown House was a large five-bay, four-story Georgian mansion in County Meath, Ireland. It was built in around 1750 by William Waller.The final owner was Vice-Admiral Arthur William Craig who assumed the surname Craig-Waller when he inherited the property in 1920 from a distant relative. In...
- Book of KellsBook of KellsThe Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
- Dean CoganDean CoganDean Cogan was a nineteenth century Roman Catholic Irish priest, , who wrote a history of the Diocese of Meath in Ireland...
- Diocese of MeathDiocese of MeathThe Diocese of Meath is an Irish diocese which took its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it still exists as a separate diocese, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other dioceses.-History:...
- NavanNavan-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....
- Niall of the Nine HostagesNiall of the Nine HostagesNiall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
- Tara, Ireland