page_title: County Meath
section_title: Places of interest
hierarchical_section_title: County Meath / Places of interest
caption_attribution_description: English: A front view of the Newgrange monument taken from outside the grounds
context_page_description: County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Mid-East Region. It is named after the historic Kingdom of Meath. Meath County Council is the local authority for the county. At the 2016 census, the population of the county was 195,044. The county town of Meath is Navan. Other towns in the county include Trim, Kells, Laytown, Ashbourne, Dunboyne, and Slane.
  It is one of only two counties outside the west of Ireland to have an official Gaeltacht and the only county in Leinster to have an official Gaeltacht.
context_section_description: As a consequence of its location in the centre of Ireland, Meath has an abundance of historic sites. 
  All periods of Irish history are represented in the landmarks of the county, spanning from the prehistoric tombs at Brú na Bóinne, the early Christian monasteries at Kells and Bective, the Norman-era fortifications at Trim and Dunmoe, the manor houses and estates of the 17th and 18th centuries such as those at Bellinter and Slane, the famine-era workhouse and graveyard at Dunshaughlin, all the way up to the Battle of Ashbourne historic site, which commemorates the sole victory of the Irish Volunteers during the 1916 Easter Rising. 
  In terms of natural attractions, the county has a relatively tame landscape compared to other parts of Ireland, with no mountains, a short coastline and generally little forest cover. There are however a number of National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) protected sites within county. The River Nanny Estuary & Shore and the River Boyne & River Blackwater are listed as Special Protection Areas. 
  Additionally, all bogs within the county; those being Mount Hevey, Girley, Killyconny, Molerick and Jamestown are listed as either Special Areas of Conservation or Natural Heritage Areas. Lough Bane, Lough Glass, White Lough, Ben Loughs and Lough Doo are all also protected by the NPWS.
caption: Newgrange, c. 3,200 BC.
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