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Dunboyne () is a town in
County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
, Ireland, north-west of Dublin city centre. It is a commuter town for
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
. In the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 censuses, the population of Dunboyne more than doubled from 3,080 to 7,272 inhabitants. As per the 2022 census, the population decreased slightly to 7,155. The town is in a
townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of the same name.


Location

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


History

Dunboyne's
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
name, Dún Búinne, indicates it was the fort of Bui who was the wife of the god Lugh. Dunboyne was home to many men who fought for and against British rule in the
Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...
. During the
War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...
the town was Division Headquarters to the IRA (
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
) 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 Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...
& Trim); 3rd ( Kells,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
& Mullagh); 4th, Delvin; 5th ( Mullingar & north Westmeath); 6th, Edenderry; 7th (
Naas Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...
& south Kildare); 8th
Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...
; and 9th (
Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
& south Louth). Dunboyne got its name from Boann, the goddess of the
River Boyne The River Boyne ( or ''Abhainn na Bóinne'') is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newberry Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows north-east through County Meath to reach the ...
. The River Tolka runs through Dunboyne.


Dunboyne Castle

Dunboyne Castle, originally a castle was built as a seat for a branch of the
Butler dynasty Butler () is the name of a noble family whose members were, for several centuries, prominent in the administration of the Lordship of Ireland and the Kingdom of Ireland. They rose to their highest prominence as Dukes of Ormonde. The family ha ...
, 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 institution, the Árd Mhuire mother and baby home in Dunboyne was opened by the sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1955. It closed in 1991. A partial section of the building has been dismantled. In 2006, the convent was sold and converted into a hotel.


Sport


Athletics

Dunboyne Athletic Club was founded in 1928 and is located on the Rooske Road, where facilities include a 400-metre, all-weather track, IAAF standard hammer throwing cage and club house. In 2013 the club had 790 registered members.


GAA

The local GAA team, St Peters Dunboyne GAA, won the Meath Senior Football Championship in 1998, 2005 and 2018. Dunboyne man Seán Boylan was the longest-serving county manager in GAA history and led Meath to four All Ireland victories in 1987, 1988, 1996 and 1999. Since its foundation in 1996, Dunboyne Ladies GFC remains the only standalone Ladies Gaelic football club in Meath. Dunboyne Ladies GFC have won Meath Championships several times in all under age levels up to and including Under 21s.


Motor racing

Dunboyne was a motor racing venue between 1958 and 1967 for both cars and motorbikes. The racing circuit was a 4 mile long triangular shaped circuit with a combination of fast straights and hairpin bends. The start/finish line was in the centre of Dunboyne village and the racing circuit itself consisted of public roads around the village. During these years races such as the Leinster Trophy, Dunboyne Trophy and Holmpatrick Trophy were held.


Football

Dunboyne has two football clubs, Dunboyne FC and Dunboyne AFC. Dunboyne AFC's grounds are on the Summerhill Road which has a floodlit astro turf pitch, three 11 a-side pitches, two small-sided pitches, club shop, and clubhouse. Dunboyne FC plays in the
Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park () is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since ...
. They were both officially opened by Pele in November 2009 in recognition of the club receiving the FAI Club of the Year award for 2009.


Other sports

The GUI National Golf Academy is located 5 km outside Dunboyne on the Maynooth Road. It has a driving range, putting green and short game area. There is also a golf society in Dunboyne. Two Irish rugby internationals, brothers Tom and Conleth Feighery who received a number of international caps in the 1970s, were born locally.


Education


Primary schools

Primary schools serving the area include Dunboyne Junior Primary School, Dunboyne Senior Primary School, Gaelscoil Thulach na nÓg and St Peter's National School (
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
). In 2002 the headmaster at Gaelscoil Thulach na nÓg was dismissed by the board of patrons for writing a letter to the parents of the children which was deemed by the Board of Management to be misconduct. The parents of the school were divided on the issue, with some reportedly believing that the incident was unfairly represented in the press.


Post-primary

The local secondary school is St. Peter's College. Dunboyne College of Further Education, located in Dunboyne Business Park, provides full-time courses at FETAC level 5. It is for PLC. The college operates under the authority of the County Meath Vocational Education Committee. As of 2016, 38 post-leaving certificate courses were offered by the college.


Youth clubs

A local Irish-language youth club, ''Cumann na bhFiann'', was begun in 2001. The club runs from September to May.


Dunboyne Community Centre

In 1985 a public meeting was held in Dunboyne, and it was agreed that a social and recreational centre was needed. Four years of fund-raising followed, and over £400,000 was raised. The Irish government contributed grants totalling £35,000, and a community centre was opened by then-President of Ireland, Dr Patrick Hillery, in 1989. With the establishment of St Peter's College on the adjoining site in 1994, the opportunity arose to undertake a venture which subsequently became a model for school/community ventures elsewhere in Ireland. The money that would have been spent on putting sports facilities into the college, £280,000, was instead invested in the centre. Through further fund-raising, the committee added another £150,000 to this and the result was a major extension of the building in 1997. This arrangement provided the college with a larger sports hall than it otherwise would have had while, outside of school hours, the extension enabled the centre to cater to the growing community better. Health and fitness facilities were added in early 2000, and a floodlit all-weather pitch (another joint venture with St Peter's College), whose development began in 2003.


Transport


Road

Dunboyne is situated primarily on the Station Road (L2228) Regional Road, at the intersection of the Maynooth Road (L2227) The town also lies parallel with the M3 motorway, which connects to L2228 using the R157 at a roundabout west of the town.


Rail

There are two rail stations in Dunboyne. Dunboyne railway station, which was built to service the town and is situated to the east of the town and M3 Parkway railway station which was built to service commuters using the M3 coming down from
Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...
. They were built as part of the reopening of the Navan-Clonsilla line under the Irish Governments Transport 21 development programme. However, due to a lack of funding, this railway stops after the M3 Parkway railway station just outside of Dunboyne. The original Dunboyne railway station was opened on 29 August 1862 and closed on 1 April 1963.


Bus

Dunboyne is served by three bus routes: the 70 and 70d (operated by Dublin Bus) and 270 (operated by Go-Ahead Ireland). There is also a limited Bus Éireann service to/from Dunshaughlin,
Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town and largest town of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Leinster Blackwater, Blackwater, around 50 km northwest of Dublin. At the ...
and Kells on route 109 and to Mullingar, Killucan, Rathmolyon and Summerhill on route 118. Bus Éireann route 109 provides two journeys a day in the morning to Kells via Dunshaughlin and Navan and two return journeys in the evening. No Bus Éireann services serve Dunboyne on Sundays. Bus Éireann route 111 between Dublin and Athboy stops at the M3 parkway station, just outside Dunboyne.


Geography

The Castle River flows into the Tolka river and flooding in and around Dunboyne has been attributed to problems further down the Tolka. Alleviation works have resulted in the risk of flooding being lessened. The last major flood was in 2002, preceded by a flood in 2000. On 11 May 2007, the town was hit by a small tornado in which slates were torn from roofs and branches from trees during a brief storm.


In media

The 1970s
television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
, '' The Riordans'', set in the fictional townland of Leestown, was filmed in Dunboyne.


People

* Thomas Blood (1618–1680), an Irish colonel best known for attempting to steal the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower of London in 1671. * Seán Boylan, former manager of the Meath GAA football team and the Irish International Rules team lives in Dunboyne. *
John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (18 May 1947 – 6 February 2024) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997 and Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001. He held cabinet positions between 1981‍ and 1987, including twice ...
, former
Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
leader of
Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...
, lived about 5 km outside the village. While envoy for the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
to the United States, he resided mostly in Washington. He still maintained a home in Dunboyne until his death in 2024. * John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne * Thomas Cusack, a Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the 1500s. * Dermot Farrell,
Bishop of Ossory . The Bishop of Ossory () is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Provinces of Ireland, Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but i ...
, was formerly the parish priest to Dunboyne. * Virginia Kerr, Irish operatic soprano, is from Dunboyne and lives there. * Darragh Lenihan,
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
er who has played for
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
and Blackburn Rovers * Niall Quinn, a British Formula 3 driver and rookie driver for A1 Team Ireland was born in Dunboyne. * Brian Smyth, Meath's first All-Ireland Football winning captain in 1949, resided in Dunboyne. * CMAT, singer-songwriter and musician, and winner of the 2022 Choice Music Prize, lived in Dunboyne as an adolescent.


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland


References


External links


Dunboyne Parish
{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Meath Townlands of County Meath Civil parishes of County Meath