the boyne valley

The valley encompasses legendary Tara, where High Kings ruled and heroes recalled their epic feats in battle, the Hill of Slane, where Patrick first lit the beacon of Christianity on the island, the mighty burial mounds of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth - even older than the Pyramids, and Trim Castle, the largest Norman fortification to be established in the country. The Boyne Valley is unique in Ireland for the survival of ruins and relics from successive generations of civilisations through thousands of years. It was here that the glories of Celtic Ireland flourished, where Christianity first conquered and where the Catholic cause was finally lost with the defeat of King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. It rivers could speak, the Boyne could tell the complete story of Ireland's proud past!