County Meath travel guide

Places to visit in County Meath

Hill of Tara

The ancient seat of the rulers was the Hill of Tara 9, 28 miles (44km) from Dublin, off the M3, 7 miles (11km) beyond the village of Dunshaughlin. The limestone ridge commands fittingly regal views over the central plain of Ireland, smokily framed by distant mountain ranges. Ring forts, ruins and a standing stone mark the place that was the island’s spiritual and cultural capital for millennia.

Trim

The town of Trim, 13 miles (21km) to the west, has Ireland’s largest Anglo-Norman castle, started by Hugh de Lacy in 1173 and used in the filming of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart in 1994. The restored keep may be visited by guided tour, on a first-come, first-served basis. Trim is well furnished with other historic structures, which are strung along the heritage trail that winds through the town and along the River Boyne. In fine weather, the river banks are the perfect place to picnic.

Slane

A beautiful 18th-century estate village above the River Boyne, bedevilled by traffic travelling between Ireland’s northwest and Dublin (it is 30 miles/50km from the capital on the N2).

The central crossroads contains a quartet of identical, three-storey, limestone Georgian houses, gazing implacably at each other across the square. The Gothic revival Slane Castle is the home of Lord Henry Conyngham, earl of Mount Charles, and is an annual venue for monster rock concerts. 

Less than a mile north of the village is the windswept Hill of Slane where in 433, St Patrick lit a Paschal fire to celebrate the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, much to the annoyance of the pagan high king, Laoghaire – who had decreed that no flames should be visible from Tara during the festival of Feis Temro. The hill, which is open all year, contains the ruins of a 16th-century Franciscan friary, and has good views of the surrounding countryside.

Trim Castle was a setting for Braveheart – read more about Irish movie locations