1900-1901.] 579 



the upper reaches of the Boyne Valley in conjunction with the 

 members of the Dublin and Cork Field Clubs, and accordingly 

 we met at Drogheda Station on the morning of the 10th inst., 

 and took the train for Navan, where we made the Central 

 Hotel our headquarters. The greater portion of the party left 

 the train at Beauparc Station and walked on to Navan by the 

 banks of the Boyne, a distance of about five miles— a delightful 

 walk through river scenery of the most attractive character. 



Navan is a typical Irish country town. It has an air of 

 indigenous idleness, abounds in good nature, has long rows of 

 thatched cottages, irregular hilly streets, with mouldering and 

 picturesque remains of former, but long-forgotten greatness. 

 One of the oldest remains is *' The Moat " - a very excellent 

 example of the ancient Irish earthen fortified residence — the 

 home probably of one of our old chiefs who held sway in the 

 then all-powerful kingdom of Meath. The Moat overlooks the 

 town beneath it, and a wide range of country all round. It is 

 artificially constructed on a natural esker ridge of gravel, which 

 is itself the result of the conflict of waters that anticipated by 

 millions of years the conflicts of arms that no doubt often took 

 place in and around this spot. 



Coming back to the hotel, a short walk in the opposite 

 direction took us to the ruins of Athlumney Castle, that over- 

 looks the river near the railway. The site is now an enclosed 

 garden in charge of the good ladies of St. Joseph's Convent of 

 Mercy, who kindly permit visitors to see the old castle, and 

 enjoy the display of taste and culture that is manifested all 

 round. The roofless walls and bare mullioned windows of the 

 ruins denote the noble character of the domestic architecture of 

 the sixteenth century, while the square keep of the adjoining 

 ivy-clad castle calls to mind the contests of the thirteenth cen- 

 tury between the Anglo-Norman knights and the warrior chiefs 

 of the Irish ; and the souterrain by the railway just below the 

 castle leads still farther backward to the unrecorded periods of 

 Irish history. 



By the generous permission of R, R. Fitzherbert, we were 



