POSTED FROM

DUNBOYNE

CO. MEATH · IE

Dunboyne
Dún Búinne, Co. Meath

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 09 / 09

Dún Búinne · Co. Meath

A Dublin commuter town with a Norman parish underneath it and a Georgian castle that became a hotel.

Dunboyne is a commuter town, and it does not pretend otherwise. Fifteen kilometres north-west of Dublin on the N3, it more than doubled in size between the mid-1990s and 2016 - from around 3,000 people to over 7,000 - as the city pushed estates out into what had been Meath farmland. The 2022 census put it at 7,155. Most mornings a large share of the town gets on a train or into a car and heads for Dublin.

Underneath the estates there is an old place. The name is Dún Búinne, read either as Búinne's stronghold or as the fort of Bui, wife of the god Lugh. Hugh de Lacy's people had a stone church on the present church site by 1205, and the town was a market centre for the barony - in 1423 a writ ordered the provost and commonalty of Dunboyne to muster at Trim for its defence. The town was burned in the disturbances of 1798. The Tolka and the Castle River run through it, and have flooded it more than once, badly in 2000 and 2002.

The set piece is the castle. The Butlers, Lords Dunboyne, built a tower house here; Cromwell's army destroyed it. A Georgian country house replaced it in the mid-eighteenth century, was sold in 1950 to become a Good Shepherd convent, and reopened in 2006 as the Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa. That convent housed the Árd Mhuire mother and baby home from 1955 to 1991, which is part of the building's history and not a comfortable part of it.

Come to Dunboyne to stay at the castle, to break a journey, or because you live here. It is not a sightseeing town and it will not waste your time pretending to be one. But the pubs are good, the church on Main Street is worth ten minutes, and the rail line makes it one of the easier beds to take if you want quiet at night and Dublin in the morning.

Population

7,155 (2022)

Pubs

4and counting

Walk score

Main Street and the church are a five-minute walk; the station is a mile out

Founded

Anglo-Norman parish; stone church on the site from 1205

01 / 09

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The town

A commuter town fifteen kilometres north-west of Dublin that doubled in a generation.

Dún Búinne, Búinne's stronghold. The population went from about 3,000 in the mid-1990s to over 7,000 by 2016 as Dublin pushed out the N3. The Norman parish core is still there under the estates: a Main Street, a church, two railway stations a mile apart.

Stories & lore → 02 The castle

A Butler tower house, a Georgian country house, a convent, now a hotel.

The Lords Dunboyne built the original castle; Cromwell's men knocked it. A Georgian house went up in its place in the mid-1700s, became a Good Shepherd convent in 1950, and reopened as Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa in 2006. One building, four lives.

Where to stay → 03 The line

Back on the rail map after a fifty-year gap.

The old Dunboyne station closed in 1963 and the line reopened in 2010 as the Western Commuter route. Dunboyne and the M3 Parkway park-and-ride sit on it. Roughly thirty-seven minutes into Dublin Connolly at peak. It is why the town is the size it is.

Getting there →

02 / 09

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Slevin's

Trad, food, summer beer garden

Traditional pub, Main Street

A proper traditional pub on Main Street, food served daily. There is trad on a Friday and, in summer, live jazz and a Sunday barbecue in the beer garden when the weather plays along. The first pub most locals will point you at.

O'Dwyers

Family dining and gatherings

Gastro pub

The gastro-pub end of the town: a kitchen doing Irish pub food properly, a bright beer garden, and a private space for occasions. The one to book if you want a sit-down meal rather than just a pint.

Brady's

Trad nights, local

Local pub

A village local with trad sessions on a Monday and Thursday. Less polished than the gastro places, which is the point.

Kelly's

Ordinary local

Local pub

The fourth of the town's four pubs. A straightforward local. Between the four of them Dunboyne is better served for a pint than most commuter towns its size.

03 / 09

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
The Ivy Restaurant	Fine dining at Dunboyne Castle Hotel	€€€	The hotel's restaurant, holder of two AA Rosettes for a number of years. Seasonal, contemporary cooking in the Georgian house. Open to non-residents - the proper night out in the town. Book ahead at the weekend.
O'Dwyers	Gastro pub, Main Street	€€	The reliable mid-range plate in the village itself. Irish pub classics done well, family-friendly, a beer garden for a fine evening. Where you eat if you are not eating at the castle.
Slevin's	Pub food, Main Street	€€	Food served daily, plus the summer Sunday barbecue in the garden. Pub cooking rather than fine dining, and useful for it.

04 / 09

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa	4-star country-house hotel	The Georgian house on its estate, reopened as a hotel in 2006. A full spa, the two-Rosette Ivy restaurant, function and wedding trade. Roughly twenty minutes from Dublin and a quarter of an hour from Dublin Airport, which makes it as much an airport-and-events hotel as a country retreat. If you stay in Dunboyne, you stay here.

05 / 09

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Hugh de Lacy's church on the hill

A Norman parish, since 1205

Dunboyne is one of the secondary Anglo-Norman settlements of Meath, a market centre for its barony. A stone church stood on the present church site from 1205, founded under the de Lacy lordship, and the town was significant enough that in July 1423, in the reign of Henry VI, a writ ordered the provost and commonalty of Dunboyne to be at Trim with all their power for its defence. The present Church of Ireland church on Main Street was built in 1865 - a small building with a semicircular east end - but it holds the older story: a rescued medieval font and the Hamilton monuments inside it are the tangible link back to the Norman and Georgian parish.

Butler tower house to spa hotel

The castle and its four lives

The Lords Dunboyne, a branch of the Butler dynasty, built the first castle here, a tower house that Cromwell's forces destroyed in the seventeenth century. A Georgian country house went up in its place in the mid-1700s and later passed to the Mangan family - Simon Mangan was HM Lieutenant for County Meath around 1900. The house was sold in 1950 to the Good Shepherd order and became a convent, which from 1955 to 1991 ran the Árd Mhuire mother and baby home. The convent was sold in 2006 and the house reopened as the Dunboyne Castle Hotel & Spa. The building reads as one continuous structure with four very different uses stacked on top of each other.

From the IRA's 1st Eastern Division to four All-Irelands

Boylan country

Dunboyne was the divisional headquarters of the IRA's 1st Eastern Division in the War of Independence, under commander Seán Boylan. The name carried on: the later Seán Boylan, from Dunboyne, managed the Meath senior footballers to four All-Ireland titles between 1987 and 1999, one of the great inter-county managerial runs. The local GAA club, St Peter's Dunboyne, won the Meath Senior Football Championship in 1998, 2005 and 2018. The town also raised a former Taoiseach, John Bruton, and more recently the musician CMAT. The local soccer ground, Dunboyne AFC, was officially opened by Pele in 2009.

06 / 09

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Main Street and the church The short heritage stroll: Main Street, the 1865 Church of Ireland church with its medieval font and Hamilton monuments inside, and the old parish core that the estates grew around. Not a long walk, and honest about it.

1 km loopdistance

20-30 minutestime

Dunboyne Castle grounds The hotel sits on landscaped estate grounds. Pleasant to wander if you are a guest, or before or after a meal at the Ivy. This is the green space the town is built to point you at.

Hotel groundsdistance

30-45 minutestime

07 / 09

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Mild, the estate grounds are kept well, the hotel quieter than peak. A good time for a stopover bed near the airport.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Slevin's runs its jazz-and-barbecue Sundays, but the hotel fills with weddings and events - book the castle well ahead for summer weekends.

◐ Mind yourself

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Settled weather, fewer events, the grounds at their best. The quiet, sensible time to come.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and a town that is mostly commuting. The hotel runs year-round and is comfortable, but the village offers little beyond the pubs in the dark months.

◐ Mind yourself

08 / 09

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Coming to Dunboyne for a sightseeing day

It is a commuter town with one set-piece building and a handful of pubs. Outside the church and the castle grounds there is little to see. Come to stay, to break a journey near the airport, or for an event - not to tour.

Expecting a standing medieval castle

The original Butler tower house is long gone - Cromwell's army saw to that. What you can visit is a Georgian house that is now a hotel. Adjust the expectation before you arrive.

Getting there.

By car

Dublin to Dunboyne is roughly 15 km north-west on the N3, about 25-30 minutes depending on traffic. Dublin Airport is about 15 minutes away. The M3 motorway runs alongside the town.

By bus

Several routes serve the town: Dublin Bus 70 and 70d, Go-Ahead Ireland 270, and Bus Éireann services on the Dublin-Meath corridor (routes such as 109, 111 and 118).

By train

Dunboyne is on the Western Commuter line. The old station closed in 1963 and the line reopened in 2010; Dunboyne station and the M3 Parkway park-and-ride (around 300 spaces) are the two stops. Roughly 37 minutes into Dublin Connolly at peak; off-peak you change at Clonsilla.

By air

Dublin Airport (DUB) is about 15 minutes by car, which is much of the reason the castle hotel does the trade it does.