County Meath


County Meath is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the southwest, Westmeath to the west, Cavan to the northwest, and Monaghan to the north. To the east, Meath also borders the Irish Sea along a narrow strip between the rivers Boyne and Delvin, giving it the second shortest coastline of any county. Meath County Council is the local authority for the county.
Meath is the 14th-largest of Ireland's 32 traditional counties by land area, and the 8th-most populous, with a total population of 220,826 according to the 2022 census. The county town and largest settlement in Meath is Navan, located in the centre of the county along the River Boyne. Other towns in the county include Trim, Kells, Laytown, Ashbourne, Dunboyne, Slane and Bettystown.
Colloquially known as "The Royal County", the historic Kingdom of Meath was the seat of the High King of Ireland and, for a time, was also the island's fifth province. Ruled for centuries by the Southern Uí Néill dynasty, in the late 1100s the kingdom was invaded by the Anglo-Norman conqueror Hugh de Lacy, who ousted the Uí Néill and established himself as the Lord of Meath. This lordship gradually diminished in size before being formally shired as County Meath in 1297, which was further sub-divided into Meath and Westmeath in 1542. The county took its present boundaries in 1977, when much of Drogheda was transferred to County Louth.
Meath has an abundance of historical sites, including the Hill of Tara, Hill of Slane, Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth, Loughcrew, the Abbey of Kells, Trim Castle and Slane Castle. The county was also the site of the seminal Battle of the Boyne, which was fought near Oldbridge in 1690, ending in the defeat of James II and his flight to France. It is the only county in Leinster to have Gaeltacht regions, at Ráth Chairn and Baile Ghib, and is also one of only two counties outside of the west of Ireland to have an official Gaeltacht.

Geography and subdivisions

Meath is the 14th-largest of Ireland's 32 counties by area, and the eighth-largest in terms of population. It is the second-largest of Leinster's 12 counties in size, and the third-largest in terms of population. Meath borders seven counties – Dublin and Louth to the east, Westmeath and Offaly to the west, Kildare to the south, and Cavan and Monaghan to the north. Meath's coastline stretches for roughly along the Irish Sea between the Boyne and Delvin rivers, making it the second shortest coastline of any coastal county. The county town, Navan, is the largest settlement in Meath, and is situated on the River Boyne in the middle of the county. Navan is approximately from Dublin and from Belfast.

Physical geography

Owing to the fertile agricultural plains along the Boyne valley, which dominate the county, Meath's landscape is largely rural in nature. However, it is also one of the most densely populated counties in Ireland, with a population density of 94 people per km2. Centuries of exhaustive harvesting and reclamation for agriculture have severely reduced the extent of bogland in the county, especially in comparison to the neighbouring Midland counties. However, small areas of bogland survived, such as Jamestown Bog, Girley Bog and Killyconny Bog, and are currently protected as either Special Areas of Conservation or Natural Heritage Areas.
The River Boyne, at in length, is Meath's dominant geographic feature and is synonymous with the county, having defined its history and culture over millennia. The two most prominent tributaries of the Boyne are the Leinster Blackwater, which has its source in Cavan and flows south for before joining the Boyne at Navan, and the Enfield Blackwater, which has its source in Kildare and flows north for before joining the Boyne at Donore. In the east of the county, both the River Nanny and the Delvin River flow to the Irish sea, with the latter demarcating the border with County Dublin.
As of 2017, there is a total of of forest cover in the county, representing 5.7% of the total land area. This is an increase from just in 2006. Nevertheless, Meath is Ireland's third-least forested county and remains well below the national average of 11% forest cover. Historically, Meath was extensively forested, but experienced a near total deforestation between the 16th and 18th centuries. Although it has rebounded in recent years, the low forest cover compared to other counties can be explained by the lack of a significant commercial forestry industry within the county. Meath is one of the smallest contributors to the national timber supply, and over two-thirds of Meath's forests are broadleaf – the highest of any county – as opposed to more commercially viable conifers. Additionally, three-quarters of forests within the county are privately owned.

Climate

Under Köppen climate classification, Meath experiences a maritime temperate oceanic climate with cool winters, mild humid summers, and a lack of temperature extremes. Met Éireann records the climate data for Meath from their station at Dunsany, situated above sea level. The average maximum January temperature is, while the average maximum July temperature is. On average, the sunniest months are May and June, while the wettest month is October with of rain, and the driest month is June with. Humidity is high year-round and rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year. A number of synoptic stations which record rainfall are located throughout the county. The driest parts of the county are in the east and south, while the wettest are in the west. Julianstown near the east coast receives of rainfall per year, while Oldcastle in the west receives. The annual precipitation at Dunsany is.
Snow showers generally occur between November and March, but prolonged or heavy snow events are rare. Although frost is common in the central and western areas of the county, temperatures typically fall below 0 °C on just a few days per year. The lowest ever temperature in Meath was recorded in December 2010, at. Summer daytime temperatures range between and, with temperatures rarely going beyond. As with rainfall, the sunniest areas of the county are located along the coast. The climate gets progressively duller and wetter inland due to the convective development of clouds over land.

Geology

The county's geological landscape is predominantly made up of Lower Carboniferous limestone, which underlies approximately 75% of the county. These were laid down following the erosion of mountain ranges which formed due to the closure of the Iapetus Ocean. The eroded mountains became basins in which limestone sediments and carbonate mud were deposited. The oldest rocks in the county are Ordovician in age and are found in thin layers near Slane and at Stamullen, while the youngest rocks are of Paleogene age, and were formed as a result of volcanic activity. These are found in small dykes and sills throughout the county. Crustal stretching beneath Ireland during the Carboniferous allowed fluids to infiltrate through faults in the rock, and extensive mineralisation occurred. Most notably, zinc-bearing Sphalerite and lead-bearing Galena were deposited in vast quantities, giving Ireland the highest concentration of zinc per square kilometre on Earth. The ubiquity of these minerals gave rise to the term "Irish-type" lead-zinc deposits, which is a descriptive term for lead-zinc deposits hosted in carbonate rocks.
Meath's landscape was shaped during the Last Glacial Period, which ended 11,700 years ago. The soils of the county are mostly derived from glacial till, consisting of a mix of clay, sand and gravel which were deposited by glacial melt-water. In the north of the county near the border with Cavan, a small series of drumlins were formed from boulder clay. Loughs typically form in between the poorly-drained inter-drumlin areas, however unlike in neighbouring Cavan and Westmeath, Meath has no sizable loughs, other than Lough Sheelin, on which the county shares a small coastline in its westernmost tip.
Meath is largely flat and much of the county lies below above sea-level. The minor hills in the far west of the county at Loughcrew, and in the north at Carrickleck are the only upland areas of any significance. Slieve na Calliagh, at just in height, is the highest point in the county, making it the second lowest county top in Ireland. Carrickleck Hill, near the Cavan border, is the second highest peak in Meath, at. The Hill of Tara is located south of Navan and, although just in height, is the most prominent feature in the local topography, commanding a panoramic view of the surrounding area.

Baronies

There are eighteen historic baronies in the county. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for many administrative purposes, and the barony boundaries in County Meath which continuously changed from the 16th to 19th centuries were last finalised in 1807. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, where official Irish names of baronies are listed under "Administrative units". The largest barony in Meath is Kells Upper, at 49,552 acres, and the smallest barony is Dunboyne, at 16,781 acres.
s are the smallest officially defined geographical divisions in Ireland, there are approximately 1,634 townlands in the county. Historic town boundaries are registered as their own townlands and much larger than rural townlands which, within County Meath, are typically small in size, ranging from just 1 acre to 2,681 acres, with the average size of a townland in the county being 356 acres.