Today Leanne Lynch will be in her home town Navan (Irish: an Uaimh) it is the county town of County Meath in Ireland. In 2011, the town and its environs had a population of 28,559; making it the 5th largest town, and 10th largest urban settlement, in Ireland. History and name Navan is a Norman foundation: Hugh de Lacy, who was granted the Lordship of Meath in 1172, awarded the Barony of Navan to one of his knights, Jocelyn de Angulo, who built a fort there from which the town developed. Navan is one of the worlds few palindromic placenames (spelt the same written back ways). Variants of Navan had been in use since Norman times.It is thought to come from Irish an Uamhain, meaning the cave/souterrain, a variant of its more common Irish name an Uaimh. In 1922, when the Irish Free State was founded, an Uaimh was adopted as the towns only official name. However, it failed to gain popularity in English and in 1971 the name was reverted to Navan in English. Economy Tara Mine, Europes largest lead and zinc mine is located in Navan. The town traditionally was famous for carpets (Navan Carpets closed in 2003) and for a thriving furniture industry (Beechmount Home Park). Both are now in decline, or have ceased, as a result of the move away from manufacture to cheaper locations like Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, Navan has rapidly expanded with the Celtic Tiger to become a large dormitory town due to its proximity to Dublin. Transport Railway The town has a freight only railway line which passes the former Navan railway station. Navan was a railway crossroads, with the GNR(I) line from Drogheda to Oldcastle and the MGWR line from Kingscourt to Clonsilla (on the Dublin to Sligo line) passing through the town, connecting at Navan Junction. The GNR(I) line from Navan to Oldcastle and the MGWR line from Clonsilla to Navan closed in 1963, leaving the lines from Drogheda to Navan and Navan to Kingscourt in place. A spur to Tara Mines on the Navan to Oldcastle trackbed was reinstated in 1977. As of 2005 the railway is solely used by Iarnród Éireann to bring freight from the local lead and zinc mine, Tara Mines, to Dublin Port. The line from Kingscourt was used for transport of gypsum until quite recently but now this line is unused. A campaign to have the Clonsilla to Navan line reopened, seeks a commuter service to Dublin, initially via the existing Drogheda line, and then directly through reopening the direct line to Dublin via Dunboyne. The Transport 21 plan envisaged the reopening of Clonsilla services happening in two stages, initially to a park and ride off the M3 at Pace by 2009 and later extending to Navan by 2015. The first stage of the project as far as Pace, Co Meath was completed in 2010, and a daily commuter service to Dublin Docklands Station commenced on 2 September 2010. The second stage of the rail link to Navan has been postponed indefinitely as a consequence of cutbacks in the states infrastructural spend announced in July 2012. Navan was the childhood home of Pierce Brosnan, who went on to play James Bond. TV personality Hector Ó hEochagáin, and comedians Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan also hail from Navan. Other famous Navan people have included Sir Francis Beaufort famous for his wind scale. His birthplace was removed by the local council in the 1990s to make way for a road junction. Leading Trance producer John OCallaghan is also from the area. Eddie Mongan and Shane Coffey are also well established producers in the industry. Entrepreneur Ian Clarke, the man behind Freenet, Revver and SenseArray is also a Navan native. Clarkes family owns The Sports Den, which is currently operated by his brother Simon. Sport Navan has had success in the Meath Senior Football Championship. Pierce OMahonys and Navan Gaels are both defunct GAA clubs. Together they have won 14 Meath Senior Football Championship Titles. Navan OMahonys was founded in 1948 and with 17 S.F.C titles they are the most successful football club in County Meath. Páirc Tailteann is located in Navan and is home of the Meath Gaelic football and Hurling teams. Navan R.F.C. won over 186 trophies in the 1960s and currently compete in the All Ireland League (AIL) Division 3 Knockharley Cricket Club were founded in 1982 and are the only cricket club in County Meath competing in the Leinster Cricket Union, the clubs most recent success came in 2006 when the 1st XI won the Middle 2 Leinster Cup defeating Mullingar at North Kildare. Parkvilla Football Club were founded in 1966 and are currently playing in the Leinster Senior League in Senior 1B. They have a very successful schoolboy/girl section which has consistently won the highest honours in the North Eastern Counties Schoolboy League. The club were honoured with a Civic reception by Navan Town Council in 2006 for their contribution to sport and the community in Navan and the Parkvilla Belles (girls team) also achieved the same honour in 2014 when they became the last sports team to receive the honour before the disbandment of the Town Councils. Their home ground is Claremont Stadium, Commons Road, Navan whom they co-own with Navan Athletic Club. Horse Racing, both National Hunt racing and Flat racing, take place at Navan Racecourse. Navan is twinned with Bobbio, Ital, and Broccostella, Italy There is an initiative to twin Navan with Navan, Ontario, Canada which was given its name by Michael OMeara from Navan, County Meath, who set up a trading post in Canada in the 1840s which became a Post Office called Navan. Navan, Ontario is now a village on the outskirts of Ottawa with an approximate population of 3500 people. The Navan2Navan Community Initiative was set up in 2012 to develop links between the two towns.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 06:01:26 +0000
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