Navan (An Uaimh in Irish, meaning "The Cave") is the administrative town of County Meath, Ireland. The capital of the county is Trim. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Meath seat was located in Navan until a backlash occurred against the Bishop of Meath, it is now located in Mullingar, County Westmeath.

The confluence of the River Blackwater (flowing south east from Virginia Lake and the famous River Boyne) occurs in Navan. Situated in the famous Boyne Valley the town is close to Brú ná Bóinne (Newgrange, Knowth & Dowth), the Hill of Tara, Skryne and Slane, as well as the heritage towns of Kells and Trim.

The town traditionally was famous for carpets (Navan Carpets closed in 2003) and for a thriving furniture industry. Both are now in decline, or have ceased, as a result of the move away from manufacture to cheaper locations like the Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, Navan has rapidly expanded with the Celtic Tiger to become a large dormitory town as it is only 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Ireland's capital city, Dublin.

Navan is also known for being the birthplace of Pierce Brosnan, the fifth actor to play the celebrated role of James Bond. Other famous people 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 of debatable usefulness.

Railways

The town has a railway line of sorts, which is occasionally used for freight. It connects to Drogheda to the east, and Kingscourt to the north. The railway is now mostly used by Iarnród Éireann for freight for the local zinc mine Tara Mines to bring it to Drogheda Port. The line from Kingscourt was used for transport of gypsum until quite recently but now this line is unused as far as Navan. The town used to have another railway line that connected from the south, from Clonsilla on the Dublin–Sligo line – the Kingscourt branch was actually a continuation of this.

There are calls to have this reopened, to provide a commuter service from Dublin via Dunboyne to Navan.

See also

• List of towns in the Republic of Ireland, St. Patrick's Classical School, Navan