Navan

The Modern Irish name An Uaimh is most likely derived from the prehistoric burial mound An Odhbha, named after Odhbha, the first wife of Érimón. It is likely the result of Odbha being later misunderstood and confused by locals with the similar sounding and much more familiar word uaimh, or uamha,[4] which also has a very similar meaning "cave, crypt or souterrain".[5] The Modern English name Navan is likely either an anglicisation of An Uaimh, which was often written and pronounced An Uamhainn, or of An Odhbha(n).[6][7] An Uaimh was the town's sole official name from the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 until 1970 when it was changed to Navan.[8] Since the Official Languages Act 2003 both the Irish and English name have had equal status, as in the rest of the country.[9]

Navan is served by several bus routes. The town has no central bus station; there are four separate stops in the town, with different routes serving each (Market Square, Mercy Convent, Shopping Centre and Fire Station). The majority of routes are operated by Bus Éireann. The most frequent route is the 109 to Dublin, which departs from Abbey Road.

Sillan also serve the town.[18] Royal Breffni Tours provide services to Dundalk Institute of Technology.[19] Streamline Coaches provide services to NUI Maynooth.[20]

St. Mary's Church

Navan has a number of secondary schools, including private denominational and public inter-denominational and non-denominational. St. Patrick's Classical School is a Roman Catholic boys-only school. Loreto Secondary School, St. Michael's at the Loreto Convent, and St. Joseph's Secondary School at the Mercy Convent are both girls-only Roman Catholic convent schools. Coláiste na Mí is a VEC-run school in Johnstown that opened in 2013. Beaufort College is a large state-owned inter-denominational vocational school. The Abylity Secondary College was a parent-owned fee-paying non-denominational school.[21][22]

Navan and the surrounding area has a number of primary schools, including the town's Catholic boys' primary school Scoil Mhuire, which was originally run by the De La Salle Brothers. Pierce Brosnan was a former pupil of St. Anne's Loreto, which is situated beside St. Mary's Catholic Church and near to St. Joseph's Mercy. There are also St. Paul's, St. Ultan's, and St. Oliver's primary schools. Scoil Éanna is the town's only gaelscoil. The town's only Church of Ireland secondary school, Preston School, closed in the 1970s. It is now the site of the shopping centre in the town. There is a Church of Ireland primary school known as Flowerfield School, on the Trim rd a new site. It was originally situated at the Flowerfield area of the town, on the main thoroughfare to Drogheda, in a building that has been sympathetically converted into private accommodation. There is also a multi-denominational Educate Together primary school in the town, sited at Commons Road.

Public art and sculptures in Navan include Sniomh, by Betty Newman Maguire, which sits in front of Navan Fire Station.[24] This sculpture is reputedly inspired by the movement of water and the merging of the rivers Boyne and Blackwater.

Another public sculpture, The Fifth Province by Richard King, is located on the Navan Bypass.[25] This sculpture is composed of four branches and a central upright stem that symbolises the flowering of hope and peace.

The Bull, designed by sculptor Colin Grehan, is a prominent piece of public art. Situated in the market square of the town, this is a 16 tonne limestone statue of a bull being held back by two handlers and commemorates the historic bull markets that took place in the area.[26] The statue was surrounded by controversy over its cost, an estimated €90,000, and its location. Local man Paddy Pryle noted that "anybody coming up Timmons Hill, which is one of the main entrances into the town, will be entering Navan via the bull's arse. It is one of the most crazy things I have seen put up yet,"[27] Objections to the statue delayed its erection by 8 years.[28]

According to local folklore a Souterrain was discovered near the Navan Viaduct in 1848. The location of its entrance has since been lost.[29]

Another folk tale involves the ghost of Francis Ledwidge. According to the story an old friend of Ludwidge was working at the Meath Chronicle, the local news printer, when he heard the sound of Ledwidge's motorcycle outside. His friend was confused as he believed Ledwidge was fighting on the Western Front, upon going out to greet him the friend found that Ledwidge had disappeared. The story claims that this ghostly apparition appeared at the same moment he died.[30]

In the Fenian cycle of Irish mythology, Fionn mac Cumhaill studied under the druid Finegas along the river Boyne. He is believed to have caught the Salmon of Knowledge[31] in what is now Navan.

Navan is twinned with the following places:

• Bobbio, Italy [32]
• Broccostella, Italy [32][33][34]

Francis Beaufort

• Francis Beaufort, scientist and naval officer[35]
• Pierce Brosnan, actor[36]
• Enda Caldwell, radio personality
• Shane Cassells, Fianna Fáil politician[37]
• Ian Clarke, computer scientist[38]
• Sam Curtis, professional footballer[39]
• Keith Donegan, racing driver
• Simon Fagan, musician
• Anthony Holten, author[40][41]
• Donal Keogan, Gaelic footballer
• Gráinne Maguire, stand-up comedian, writer and podcaster[42]
• Arthur Mathews, comedy writer
• Conor Nash, Australian Rules Footballer
• Helen McEntee, Fine Gael politician[43]
• Dylan Moran, comedian[44]
• John O'Callaghan, DJ
• Hector Ó hEochagáin, TV personality[45]
• Joseph Rooney, Catholic priest
• Tommy Tiernan, comedian[46]
• Paul Tighe, Catholic prelate[47]
• Yemi Adenuga, TV personality and Ireland's first black female elected Councillor[48]

• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• List of palindromic places

• Historical Society of Navan website