Dunboyne

Dunboyne (Irish: Dún Búinne, meaning "Búinne's stronghold") is a town in County Meath, Ireland.

Location

Dunboyne is centred on the crossroads formed by the R156 regional road and the old Maynooth Road (formerly designated R157).

History

Dunboyne's history stretches back to the Middle Ages.

Dunboyne was home to many men who fought for and against British rule in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. During the War of Independence the town was Division Headquarters to the IRA 1st Eastern Division, a unit formed in April 1921 under Divisional commander, Seán Boylan. The Division consisted nine brigades: 1st Brigade (south Meath & north Kildare); 2nd (Navan & Trim); 3rd (Kells, Virginia & Mullagh); 4th, Delvin; 5th (Mullingar & north Westmeath); 6th, Edenderry; 7th (Naas & south Kildare); 8th Fingal; and 9th (Drogheda & south Louth).

Dunboyne Castle

Dunboyne Castle, originally a castle, later a fine Georgian house, was built as a seat for a branch of the Butler dynasty, the Lords Dunboyne. It later passed to the Mangan family and was the seat of Simon Mangan, HM Lieutenant for County Meath in the 1890s and 1900s. The House was sold in 1950 and became the Good Shepherd convent, in which nuns used to live and operate a mother and baby home, The Ard Mhuire mother and baby home in Dunboyne was opened by the sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1955. It closed in 1991. A partial amount of the building had been dismantled. In 2006, the convent was sold and converted into a hotel.