Oldbridge () is a townland near

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, Ireland. The area is home to the

Boyne Navigation The Boyne Navigation ( ga, Loingseoireacht na Bóinne) is a series of canals running 31 km (19 mi) roughly parallel to the River Boyne from Oldbridge to Navan in County Meath, in Ireland. The navigation was once used by horse-drawn ...

, the Battle of the Boyne Interpretive Centre and the southern half of the

Mary McAleese Boyne Valley Bridge The Mary McAleese Boyne Valley Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in County Meath, and County Louth, Ireland. It spans the Boyne River west of Drogheda on the county boundary between County Meath and County Louth and is part of the M1 Norther ...

(which carries the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

Navigation

The townland represents the furthest tidal reach on the River Boyne at a point called the "Curly Hole". Curly Hole is also a fishing location. Prior to the 12th century, this was the lowest crossing point of the Boyne. The Abbey of Mellifont owned the lands and fisheries here at dissolution in 1539. It was described then as "''Oldebryge. 26 fishermen with 26 boats de Corrio (sc.corachs) paying £13.6.8''". The Irish

coracle A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the West Country and in Ireland, particularly the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used of s ...

was used for salmon fishing at this location up to at least the first half of the 20th century. One of the last coracles made locally was made in 1928 by Michael O'Brien of Oldbridge, for

Adolf Mahr Adolf Mahr (7 May 1887 – 27 May 1951) was an Austrian archaeologist, who served as director of the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin in the 1930s, and is credited with advancing the work of the museum substantially. Through his leadership ...

director of the

National Museum of Ireland The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thre ...

Battle of the Boyne Site

Oldbridge House, Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre near Drogheda (geograph 4637130)

The site of the Battle of the Boyne extends over an area west of the town of

. In the County Development Plan for 2000, Meath County Council rezoned the land at the eastern edge of Oldbridge, at the site of the main Williamite crossing, to residential status. A subsequent planning application for a development of over 700 houses was granted by Meath County Council and this was appealed by local historians to

An Bord Pleanala An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian an ...

(The Planning Board). In March 2008 after a long appeal process,

approved permission for this development to proceed. The Battle of the Boyne Interpretive Centre is approximately to the west of the main crossing point, on Oldbridge Estate. This facility was redeveloped in 2008 and is open to tourists. In early 2007, the newly elected First Minister of Northern Ireland,

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First ...

, was invited to visit the battle site by the then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

. Following the invitation, Paisley commented that "''such a visit would help to demonstrate how far we have come when we can celebrate and learn from the past so the next generation more clearly understands''". The visit took place in May 2007, and a tree was planted in the grounds of Oldbridge House to mark the occasion.

References

Geography of County Meath Drogheda {{Meath-geo-stub