Rossnaree (Old Irish Ros na Ríg) is a small village in County Meath

County Meath

County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

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...

, on the south bank of the River Boyne

River Boyne

The River Boyne is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newbury Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows towards the Northeast through County Meath to reach the Irish Sea between Mornington, County Meath and Baltray, County Louth. Salmon...

, near the Brú na Bóinne

Brú na Bóinne

is a World Heritage Site in County Meath, Ireland and is the largest and one of the most important prehistoric megalithic sites in Europe.-The site:...

 complex of neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 monuments on the north bank. It commands a ford that was used by the Williamite

Williamite

Williamite refers to the followers of King William III of England who deposed King James II in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs....

s at the Battle of the Boyne

Battle of the Boyne

The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...

 in 1690. The walls of the mill at Rosnaree once contained a Sheela na Gig

Sheela Na Gig

Sheela na gigs are figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva. They are found on churches, castles and other buildings, particularly in Ireland and Britain, sometimes together with male figures. One of the best examples may be found in the Round Tower at Rattoo, in County...

, although this has now been removed for safe keeping. Rossnaree House can be viewed at www.rossnaree.ie

Legends

The legendary High King of Ireland

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...

 Cormac mac Airt

Cormac mac Airt

Cormac mac Airt , also known as Cormac ua Cuinn or Cormac Ulfada , was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland...

 is reputedly buried at Rossnaree, having refused to be buried at a pagan site after converting to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. In the Ulster Cycle

Ulster Cycle

The Ulster Cycle , formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and...

 tale Cath Ruis na Ríg ("the Battle of Rosnaree"), it is the site of a battle between Conchobar mac Nessa

Conchobar mac Nessa

Conchobar mac Nessa was the king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. He ruled from Emain Macha .-Birth:...

, king of the Ulaid

Ulaid

The Ulaid or Ulaidh were a people of early Ireland who gave their name to the modern province of Ulster...

, and his son-in-law Cairpre Nia Fer, king of Tara

Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...

, during which the Ulaid hero Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn

Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...

kills Cairpre with a spear thrown from a distance, and then decapitates him before his body hits the ground.