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Photo: Patrick Brown, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
There are neolithic and Bronze Age remnants here, but the main structure was built in 95 BC: a timber roundhouse 40 m in diameter, which was then packed with stones, set on fire and covered with earth to create the present mound. This seems to have been a religious sacrifice, not destruction of a defensive "fort". The small nearby roundhouse is a modern reconstruction. Other nearby sites are Haughey's Fort a Bronze Age ringfort, and King's Stables an artificial hollow that may have been used for washing horses and chariots.
Navan Fort is an ancient ceremonial monument near Armagh, Northern Ireland. According to tradition it was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the capital of the Ulaidh. It is a large circular hilltop enclosure—marked by a bank and ditch—inside which is a circular mound and the remains of a ring barrow. Archeological investigations show that there were once buildings on the site, including a huge roundhouse-like structure that has been likened to a temple. In a ritual act, this timber structure was filled with stones, deliberately burnt down and then covered with earth to create the mound which stands today. It is believed that Navan was a pagan ceremonial site and was regarded as a sacred space. It features prominently in Irish mythology, especially in the tales of the Ulster Cycle. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, "the [Eamhain Mhacha] of myth and legend is a far grander and mysterious place than archeological excavation supports".
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Built in Gothic Revival style between 1840 and 1904, the RC cathedral has an impressive interior, the mosaics and woodwork being especially pleasing. It's perched on a hillock and you approach via a grand exterior stairway. St. Patrick's is an active parish church, with Masses, weddings and funerals. Guided tours must be booked two weeks in advance.
The first church on this site was in 445 and the present building is from the 13th century, but it's been wrecked and rebuilt 17 times. What you see now is mostly from the 1830s and 40s. The body of Brian Boru, killed in victory at Clontarf in 1014, was taken to Swords then interred at Armagh: a slab on the exterior wall of the north transept denotes the spot.
Small museum of this infantry regiment, formed in 1881 and amalgamated into the Royal Irish Rangers in 1968.
Displaying local natural and social history, and art. The reference library has local archives, photo and map collections. Visitor information is also available at the museum.
It's a working observatory only open for arranged tours and planetarium shows.
19th-century country house got up like a Norman castle; it fell into rack and ruin in the 20th century, but in 2008 was converted to private dwellings. So you can't tour inside, the reason to come is for the extensive woods and parkland.