Dunboyne
Encyclopedia
Dunboyne is a town in County Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...

 in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. For the most part, it is a dormitory town for the city of Dublin.

Location

Dunboyne is centred on the crossroads formed by the R156
R156 road
The R156 road is a regional road in Ireland, linking the N3 national primary road near Clonee in County Meath to the N4 in County Westmeath. The road is single carriageway throughout. Many parts of the route have dangerous bends.-Route:...

 regional road
Regional road
A regional road in Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route , but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres of regional roads. Regional roads are numbered with three digit route numbers, prefixed by "R" A regional road in Ireland is a...

 and the old Maynooth Road (formerly designated R157).
The total population is 13,578.

Irish Rebellion (1798)

It was home to many men who fought against British rule in the 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...

.

Dunboyne Castle

Dunboyne Castle, which was a fine Georgian house, was built as the seat of the Butler family, Lords Dunboyne
Baron Dunboyne
The Barony of Dunboyne was created by patent in the Peerage of Ireland in 1541. The barons are alternately numbered from the early 14th century by numbers ten greater than the number dating to the patent...

. 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 until the closing of the convent in the 1990s due to building damage. A partial amount of the building had been dismantled. In 2006, the convent was sold and converted into a hotel.

Farming

Many of the families outside this village were farmers. They produced dairy and vegetables for the local area. Now in 2008, the farms and families have decreased and are not producing as much as they were in 1980s. Many of the landowners in Dunboyne have sold varying parcels of their land to developers over the years which made some of them overnight millionaires during the greatest roars of the Celtic Tiger. Dunboyne was transformed from a sleepy little village to the modern bedroom community for Dublin into which it has evolved.
Archibald Hamilton father of William Rowan Hamilton was of the Hamilton family of Dunboyne. They were once large landowners in the town. His father owned Ballymacoll Estate. William Rowan's uncle the Rev. James Hamilton was the Vicar of Trim and Dunboyne.

Golf

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. It has golf lessons available from professionals.

GAA

Dunboyne is also known for its rich GAA tradition. The Dunboyne team won the Meath senior county football championship in 1998 and 2005. Dunboyne man Seán Boylan
Seán Boylan
Seán Boylan is a former football manager from Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland. He retired from his position as manager of the Meath GAA Senior Football team on the evening of 31 August 2005 after twenty-three years in charge...

 was the longest serving county manager in GAA history and led Meath to four All Ireland victories in 1987, 1988, 1996 and 1999. He was awarded 'Freedom of Meath' in 2006 for his contributions to the Meath GAA scene. All Ireland winners from Dunboyne representing Meath include Brian Smith (1949 & 1954) James Reilly (1954), Brendan Reilly(James Reillys son)(1988 & 1996) ( Gaa All Star 1997), Enda McManus, Nigel Crawford
Nigel Crawford (footballer)
Nigel Crawford is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St.Peter's, Dunboyne and the Meath intercounty team. Crawford made his debut with Meath in late 1998 and has been there since. He has won three Leinster medals in 1999, 2001 and in 2010 and has won one All-Ireland medal...

 and David Gallagher. In 2009 the under 14 team won the All Ireland club championship.

Ladies GAA

Since its foundation in 1996, the Dunboyne Ladies GFC remains the only stand alone Ladies Gaelic Football club in the County. It caters for girls from the local Dunboyne Community and surrounding areas and fields teams in all age competitions and Senior Leagues. There is a very active Underage / Nursery which welcomes new members to come along and join the club, with emphasis on fun and learning the skills of Gaelic Football.
Dunboyne Ladies GFC have won Meath Championships several times over at all under age levels up to and including Under 21’s.

Motor Racing

Dunboyne was also 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. The Dunboyne Motor Club have revived the spirit of this era with an annual reunion in the village bringing together many of the cars and bikes that raced on the circuit. The 2012 "Spirit of Dunboyne" Motorsport event will take place on the 1st and 2nd of September.

The old motor racing circuit still sees competitive racing of the two legged variety in the form of the Annual Easter Sunday Road race held by the Dunboyne Athletic Club. Athletes compete for the Mattie McGrath Trophy and 2008 saw this event being held for the 39th time.

Rugby

Dunboyne has produced three Irish rugby internationals. Brothers Tom and Conleth Feighery both received a number of caps for their country in the 1970s. Tom is currently a local GP.
Orla Brennan, daughter of Colm and Kathleen, has received a number of caps representing her country with the Irish Women's Rugby Team.

Football

Dunboyne has two football clubs, Dunboyne AFC and St. Patrick's FC also known as Kilbreena FC.
Both play at Dunboyne AFC's grounds on the Summerhill Road, which were officially opened by Pele in November 2009, in recognition of the club receiving the FAI Club of the Year award for 2009.

Tennis

Dunboyne Tennis Club was formed about 1980 using the car park at Dunboyne National Primary School. It later moved to Dunboyne Community Centre and is today located on the edge of Clonee Village, just off the N3. It has 4 AstroTurf courts, 1 practice court, car park and a new 2-storey Clubhouse which opened in 2009. DTC is an affiliated member club of the Dublin Lawn Tennis Council.

Primary Schools

  • Dunboyne Junior Primary School
  • Dunboyne Senior Primary School
  • Gaelscoil Thulach na nÓg
  • St Peter's National School (Church of Ireland
    Church of Ireland
    The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

    )

Third Level

  • Dunboyne College of Further Education

Dunboyne College of Further Education, currently located in Dunboyne Business Park, is a well-established College of Further Education providing full-time courses at FETAC
Further Education and Training Awards Council
The Further Education and Training Awards Council is the statutory awarding body for further education in Ireland...

 level 5.

The College operates under the authority of the County Meath Vocational Education Committee, which operates second level and further education opportunities in the Meath area.

The qualifications obtained from programmes in the college provide students with the opportunity to progress to further studies at third level.

Controversy at Gaelscoil Thulach na nÓg

In 2002, Tomás Ó Dulaing, headmaster at Gaelscoil Thulach na nÓg was dismissed by the board of patrons. He wrote a letter to the parents of the children which was deemed by the Board of Management to be misconduct. Although portrayed by some as being dismissed for opting to teach religious sacraments outside school hours, he was in fact dismissed for mis-conduct and his dismissal on these grounds were upheld by the Labour Court. The parents of the school were divided on the issue of his dismissal, and some felt that it was unfairly represented in the press.

Youth Clubs

  • Cumann na bhFiann

Beginning in 2001, Cumann na bhFiann originated from the organisation Colaiste Na BhFiann. The aim of the club is to promote the Irish language and to help young children to understand Irish. Approximately 50 students currently participate in the club, which takes place from September to May.
  • Foróige

An English speaking youth club, which encourages teenagers to keep out of trouble, and to have fun on Friday nights. Currently, 300 students from Meath attend this club, 30 of whom come from Dunboyne.

Music

Traditional music abounds in Dunboyne.
There is a very strong chapter of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in Dunboyne that meets alternating Monday nights in Bradys Pub.
There are sesiúns in Slevin's Pub on Friday nights, and Brady's Pub on Thursday and Monday nights.

In Dunboyne's St. Peter's College, the award-winning student orchestra exists as well as an award-winning choir.

Dunboyne Community Centre

In 1985 the people of Dunboyne came together at a public meeting and agreed that a social and recreational Centre was badly needed and set out to provide it for themselves. Four years of fund-raising followed, during which 80–90% of households contributed on a weekly, monthly or annual basis. Local businesses participated with sponsorships, and the local clubs ran fund-raising events. These efforts raised over £400,000, the Government contributed grants totalling £35,000, and a fully equipped 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 embark on an innovative venture which has since become 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 much bigger and better sports hall than it could have had on its own while, outside of school hours, the extension enabled the Centre to cater better for the growing community.

The Centre added a Health and Fitness Club in January 2000 and a floodlit all-weather pitch (another joint venture with St Peter's College) in 2004.

The Centre is a non-profit making body, owned by the community, funded by the community, and operated for the benefit of the community. It has a charitable exemption from income tax. All the income that is generated goes towards covering its running costs and funding further development.

Road

Dunboyne is situated primarily on the R156 Regional Road, just east of the roundabout intersection with the R157.

Rail

There are two rail stations in Dunboyne. Dunboyne railway station
Dunboyne railway station
Dunboyne railway station is a railway station to serve the town of Dunboyne in County Meath. The original Dunboyne station opened in August 1862 on the Clonsilla-Navan railway line, but was closed in January 1947. Since then the town has not been served by passenger trains, with the old station...

 and Pace M3 railway station
Pace M3 railway station
M3 Parkway is a railway station in County Meath on the planned Clonsilla-Navan railway line. It mainly serves as a large Park and Ride site, with 1,200 spaces...

 were built as part of the reopening of the Navan-Clonsilla
Dublin-Navan railway line
The Dublin-Navan line was a commuter railway line between Dublin and the town of Navan in County Meath.- History :Navan was originally a significant part of the expanding rail network in Ireland. The Dublin and Drogheda Railway first constructed a branch from the Dublin-Belfast main line through...

 line under the Irish Governments Transport 21
Transport 21
Transport 21 is an Irish infrastructure plan, announced in November 2005. It aims to greatly expand Ireland's transport network. A cost estimate of €34 billion was attached to the plan at the time....

 development programme.
The original Dunboyne railway station
Dunboyne railway station
Dunboyne railway station is a railway station to serve the town of Dunboyne in County Meath. The original Dunboyne station opened in August 1862 on the Clonsilla-Navan railway line, but was closed in January 1947. Since then the town has not been served by passenger trains, with the old station...

 was opened on 29 August 1862 and closed on 1 April 1963.

Bus

Dunboyne is served by several Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus
Dublin Bus is a public transport operator in Ireland. It operates an extensive bus network of 172 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 18 night routes in the city of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area. The company, established in 1987, is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann which is...

 routes including the 70, 70X, 70N and 270. Bus Éireann also indirectly serves Dunboyne along the Dublin-Navan route, with a stop located near the junction of the Navan Rd. and the R157, which leads to Dunboyne.

Rivers

It has been suggested that Dunboyne is the only town in Ireland that could be an inland island, as the only way into and out of the town is over bridges, directly outside the town on each road.

The Castle River flows into the Tolka river
River Tolka
The River Tolka is one of Dublin's three main rivers, flowing from County Meath to Fingal, within the old County Dublin, and through the north of Dublin city, Ireland. It is one of Dublin's three main rivers, the others being the Liffey and the Dodder...

 and recent flooding in and around Dunboyne has been attributed to problems further down the Tolka. Alleviation works have resulted in the risk of flooding being severely lessened. The last major flood was in 2002, preceded by floods in 2000 and 1987.

People

  • John Bruton
    John Bruton
    John Gerard Bruton is an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 1994 to 1997. A minister under two taoisigh, Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald, Bruton held a number of the top posts in Irish government, including Minister for Finance , and Minister for Industry, Trade,...

    , Taoiseach
    Taoiseach
    The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

     from 1994 to 1997 and former leader of the Fine Gael
    Fine Gael
    Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

     political party, lives about 5 kilometres outside the village. As the current envoy for the European Union
    European Union
    The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

     to the United States of America, he resides mostly in Washington D.C. He still maintains farmland and a home in Dunboyne.
  • Seán Boylan
    Seán Boylan
    Seán Boylan is a former football manager from Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland. He retired from his position as manager of the Meath GAA Senior Football team on the evening of 31 August 2005 after twenty-three years in charge...

    , former manager of the Meath GAA football team and present manager of the Irish International Rules team lives in Dunboyne.
  • Mgr Dermot Farrell
    Dermot Farrell
    Monsignor Dermot Pius Farrell was born in Castletown-Geoghegan, County Westmeath in 1955. He was educated at St Finian’s College, Mullingar and St Patrick's College, Maynooth. Now an independent affiliate of the newly constituted Maynooth College of the N.U.I., St. Patrick's houses both the...

    , the Parish Priest since 1 October 2007, is the former President of St Patrick's College, Maynooth. He succeeded Mgr Edward Dunne as parish priest of Dunboyne in 2007.
  • Niall Quinn
    Niall Quinn (racing driver)
    Niall Quinn is an Irish motor racing driver, currently living in County Meath, Ireland.- Early career :1999- 3rd place in Irish Karting Championship in Cadet2000- 1st place in Irish Karting Championship in Cadet...

    , a British Formula 3
    British Formula Three Championship
    The British Formula Three Championship is an international motor racing series that takes place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. Its current official title is...

     driver and rookie driver for A1 Team Ireland
    A1 Team Ireland
    A1 Team Ireland is the Irish team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The team were the A1 Grand Prix champions for the fourth season, 2008-09.- The Team :...

     was born in Dunboyne.
  • Virginia Kerr
    Virginia Kerr
    Virginia Kerr is a prominent Irish soprano who appears frequently in concerts, opera, oratorio and recitals.She has sung with many of the world's leading orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Hallé and the Royal...

     the prominent Irish Soprano and opera singer is from Dunboyne and still lives there today.

Miscellaneous Information

Dunboyne was the backdrop for the fictional village of Leestown in the very successful television series of the 1970s called The Riordans
The Riordans
The Riordans was the second Irish soap opera made by Raidio Telefís Éireann . It ran from 1965 to 1979 and was set in the fictional townland of Leestown in County Kilkenny...

. More recently certain elements of the local Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 (GAA) clubs and country houses were used in a recent RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...

 GAA related drama series. And also a partial amount of footage of 'Ear to the Ground' this was filmed in 2006. The footage was shot in the Local GAA grounds on the Rooske Rd. The show is now finished.

In Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 there is an unusual youth hostel; it is a ship called af Chapman. Named Dunboyne by her original Dublin owners, Charles E. Martin & Co., she participated in trade with Australia in her early years. Sold to Norway in 1909, the Dunboyne was renamed the G.D. Kennedy in July 1915 when she was bought by the Swedish shipping company Transatlantic who sold her to the Swedish government in 1924, when it was renamed af Chapman. She has been operating as a youth hostel since 1949.

In the 2009 local elections, Cllr Maria Murphy and Cllr Noel Leonard were both elected and are currently on the Meath County Council, both currently live in Dunboyne. The 2009 election was one of the few which saw two candidates from Dunboyne being elected to the council.

See also

  • St. Peter's College
    St. Peter's College, Dunboyne
    St. Peter's College, Dunboyne is an Irish secondary school located in Dunboyne, County Meath. The current School Principal is Mr. Eamonn Gaffney.-History:...

  • List of towns and villages in Ireland

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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