Skryne or Skreen ( , or originally called The Hill of Acaill) is a village 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. On and around a hill between the N2 and N3 roads, it is 10 km south-east of the centre of

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 35 km north-west of the centre of Dublin. The village is on the far side of the Gabhra valley from the

Hill of Tara The Hill of Tara ( or ) is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath, Ireland. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland; it also appears in Irish mythology. ...

(this valley is sometimes referred to as the Tara-Skryne Valley). The Hill of Skryne is higher than the neighbouring

. Skreen gives its name to the surrounding

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. About 1170

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, 4th Baron Lacy (; before 1135 – 25 July 1186), was an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman landowner and royal office-holder. He had substantial land holdings in Herefordshire and Shropshire. Following his participation in ...

granted Skryne to

Adam de Feypo Adam de Feypo is first mentioned in ''The Red Book of the Echequer 1166, p283 (England)'' as being one of the knights of Hugh de Lacy in Herefordshire, England. He was possibly a castellan of one of the de Lacy castles on the Welsh border. As the ...

, whose descendants used the customary title Baron Skryne, which was not a

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

in the strict sense. A 15th-century church, known locally as Skryne tower or The Steeple, remains in good condition at the top of the hill and is visible from a large area of Meath. At the foot of the tower is a pub and stables that feature in the

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

"white Christmas" television advertisement.

Sport

The local

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

club, Skryne GFC, is one of the most successful in Meath Senior Football Championship history and have never been relegated from senior level in the Keegan Cup. The club also has had at least one player on every Meath team that has won the

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

. They have been county champions on thirteen occasions, most recently in 2010, when they defeated Seneschalstown in the final, coming back four times from Seneschalstown goals to win by 0–21 to 4–8.

Notable people

* Matthew Corbally (1797–1870), leading politician and MP for

; he and his wife are buried in the vault of Skryne church. * Agnetha Ní Máelshechlainn was Abbess of the St Mary's Augustinian Abbey, Clonard during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland and ensured the church remained in church hands when Skryne was granted to Adam de Feypo. * William Skrene (died 1421), Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer 1395–7, came from a family which derived its name from Skryne, though they later lived in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

Gallery

File:Southernview Skryne Church.JPG, Southern view of Skryne church File:Northeasternview Skryne church.JPG, Northeastern view of Skryne church Image:ScrínCholmchille.JPG, Carved effigy of Saint Colmcille File:Medieval gravestones at Skryne.JPG, Medieval grave stones File:Marward stone, An Scrin.JPG, Sixteenth-century tombstone of the Marward family, barons of Skreen Image:Eaglais Scrín Cholm Cille.jpg, Northwestern view of the church File:O'Connell's pub, Skryne 2009.jpg, O'Connell's pub, used in Guinness white Christmas ads

Sport

Notable people

Gallery

References

See also