POSTED FROM

JOHNSTOWN

CO. MEATH · IE

Johnstown
Baile Sheáin, Co. Meath

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 08 / 08

Baile Sheáin · Co. Meath

A Navan commuter suburb that grew out of farmland in a decade - but the church on the hill keeps a 15th-century font most cathedrals would envy.

Johnstown is what happened to the southeast edge of Navan when the town doubled in size. For most of its history it was a townland in the civil parish of Athlumney, a scatter of farms on the east bank of the Boyne. Then, roughly between 2000 and 2008, the estates went up, and Johnstown became one of the biggest residential corners of the county town. It is honest to call it a suburb rather than a village now - houses, a shopping centre, two schools and a business park, three kilometres out from Navan on the R147.

Do not come expecting a thatched main street, because there isn't one. What there is, and what is genuinely worth the detour, sits in the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady on the hill. The church keeps the Apostle font - a twelve-sided limestone font carved in the late 15th century, the apostles and the Coronation of the Virgin set in ogee-headed niches, brought here from the old church at Kilcarn. It was good enough to be put on show at the Dublin Great Exhibition of 1853. Beside it stands an octagonal font from the manor chapel at Follistown, and a cloister pier from Bective Abbey is built into the east wall of the tower. For a suburban parish church, that is an extraordinary collection of medieval stone.

The other reason to slow down is the river. Athlumney, the old parish Johnstown belongs to, runs down to the Boyne, and Athlumney Castle stands on the east bank - a 15th-century tower house with a Tudor fortified house bolted on, burned in 1649 to keep it from Cromwell and, the story goes, burned again by its last lord after the Battle of the Boyne. The Boyne Valley proper opens out from here: Navan a few minutes north, Brú na Bóinne and the great passage tombs half an hour downstream.

Treat Johnstown as the quiet base, not the destination. The nightlife, the restaurants and the pubs are in Navan, three kilometres up the road. What Johnstown gives you is the font, the castle and the river - and a clear view of how modern Meath actually got built.

Population

A Navan suburb, grown from open country since 2000

Founded

Medieval townland; built up as a Navan commuter suburb 2000-2008

Coords

53.6376° N, 6.6547° W

01 / 08

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 font

A twelve-sided medieval font, the apostles carved around it.

The Church of the Nativity holds the Apostle font from old Kilcarn - dodecagonal, late 15th century, the apostles and the Coronation of the Virgin in ogee-headed niches. It was shown at the 1853 Dublin Great Exhibition. The single best reason to stop.

Stories & lore → 02 The location

Three kilometres southeast of Navan, on the Boyne.

On the R147 just south of the county town, on the east bank of the Boyne. The IDA Business & Technology Park sits beside the M3, junction 8. Forty kilometres northwest of Dublin.

Getting there → 03 The growth

Open country to suburb in under a decade.

Between 2000 and 2008 Johnstown went from a quiet rural townland to one of the largest residential areas of greater Navan. Schools, a shopping centre and a business park followed the houses.

Stories & lore →

02 / 08

The pubs.

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

No pub in the village

Suburban, dry

Honest note

Johnstown is a residential suburb with a neighbourhood shopping centre, not a village with a bar on the corner. For the pint, the trad and the late bar you want Navan, three kilometres north - fifteen pubs and counting in the county town.

03 / 08

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
Johnstown Shopping Centre	Neighbourhood centre, R147	€	A Supervalu for the shopping, a Costa for the coffee, and Hickeys Pharmacy. Functional rather than a destination - this is where Johnstown does the everyday, not where you come for dinner. For a proper meal, Navan is minutes away.

04 / 08

Stories & lore.

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

Late 15th century, from Kilcarn

The Apostle font

The treasure of the Church of the Nativity is a dodecagonal font - twelve sides - dated by the scholar Helen Roe to the late 15th, possibly early 16th century. Ten apostles stand singly, two stand together, and the Coronation of the Virgin Mary completes the set, each figure in an ogee-headed niche with foliate carving, the whole thing raised on a short twelve-sided column. It came from the old church at Kilcarn nearby, was taken to Dublin for the Great Exhibition of 1853, and ended up here. A second, octagonal font from the manor chapel at Follistown was acquired in 1852 and stands in the grounds, and a cloister pier salvaged from Bective Abbey is set into the east wall of the church tower. Few parish churches in Ireland carry this much medieval stone.

Burned twice, on the east bank of the Boyne

Athlumney Castle

Just toward the river from Johnstown stands Athlumney Castle, the old seat of the parish. It is two buildings in one - a 15th-century tower house and a Tudor-style fortified house added in the late 16th or early 17th century - on a site held since the 1170s, when Amauri de Feipo raised the first motte after Hugh de Lacy carved up Meath. The castle was burned in 1649 by the Maguire who held it, to deny it to Cromwell's army during the Siege of Drogheda. Legend has it that the last lord, Sir Launcelot Dowdall, set fire to it a second time after watching James II lose the Battle of the Boyne, rather than see it fall to the Williamites. The ruin still overlooks the point where the Blackwater meets the Boyne.

The build-out of 2000 to 2008

Open country to suburb

For centuries Johnstown was farmland - a townland in Navan Rural, in the civil parish of Athlumney, in the barony of Skryne. The Celtic Tiger changed that fast. Between 2000 and 2008 the area was transformed from open country into one of the largest residential districts of greater Navan, and the infrastructure chased the housing: St Stephen's National School and Coláiste na Mí (the LMETB post-primary school) for the children, the Johnstown Shopping Centre with its Supervalu and Costa for the messages, and the 91-acre IDA Business & Technology Park beside junction 8 of the M3 for the jobs. Walterstown GAA and Johnstown FC carry the local colours. It is the Boyne Valley commuter belt in one townland.

05 / 08

Things to do outside.

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

Church of the Nativity The reason to stop. The Apostle font inside, the Follistown font in the grounds, and the Bective cloister pier in the tower wall. Check that the church is open before you build a day around it - it is a working parish church, not a visitor attraction, and access can depend on Mass times.

Short visitdistance

20 minutestime

Boyne Ramparts Walk The marked riverside walk along the Boyne between Navan and Stackallen passes the Athlumney side of the river. Gentle, well-drained, and the Boyne Valley landscape at its quiet best. Pick it up at Navan and walk out - the start point in Johnstown itself is informal.

Riverside pathdistance

Allow an hourtime

Athlumney Castle The tower house and fortified house on the east bank of the Boyne. It is a National Monument; access has historically been by arranging the key locally, so check before you go rather than expecting an open door. Worth it for the setting over the river even from outside the gate.

Short walk from the roaddistance

30 minutestime

06 / 08

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The Boyne is at its greenest and the riverside walk is dry underfoot. The best window for pairing the font, the castle and a walk along the river.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings for the Boyne Valley, and Johnstown makes a quiet, cheap base within reach of Brú na Bóinne and Navan. Book accommodation in Navan rather than here.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Soft light on the Boyne and the castle, fewer people on the river path. A good time for the heritage rather than the houses.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Short days and the river path can be wet. The church and the shopping centre keep going, but there is little to draw you here on a dark afternoon - do the font and move on to Navan.

◐ Mind yourself

07 / 08

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

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

Expecting a traditional village

Johnstown grew from farmland into a Navan suburb in under a decade. There is no old village street, no green, no village pub. Come for the church, the font and the castle, and treat the rest as the commuter belt it honestly is.

Building a day around the church without checking

The Apostle font is genuinely worth seeing, but the Church of the Nativity is a working parish church, not a managed heritage site. Opening can hinge on Mass times. Phone the parish or call in around a service rather than driving out blind.

Looking for nightlife in Johnstown

There are no pubs or restaurants to speak of in the village itself. Navan, three kilometres north, has all of it. Sleep here if you like the quiet, but eat and drink in town.

Getting there.

By car

From Navan: 3 km southeast on the R147. From Dublin: about 40 km northwest, leave the M3 at junction 8 (Navan South / IDA Business Park). Parking at Johnstown Shopping Centre.

By bus

Navan is the transport hub - Bus Éireann route 109 runs frequently between Navan and Dublin (Busáros), roughly an hour, with local stops serving the Johnstown side of town. Local Link covers the rural routes around Navan.

By train

There is no railway in Meath serving Navan or Johnstown. The nearest options are the Dublin commuter trains, reached by bus to Dublin, or driving. The M3 bus corridor is the practical way in and out.