Wilkinstown
Baile Uilcín

The Ireland's Ancient East
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Baile Uilcín · Co. Co. Meath

A village reborn on a railway line that closed 77 years ago.

Wilkinstown is a village that almost disappeared and then was suddenly relevant again. It sits on the Yellow River and the R162, halfway between Navan and Nobber, 10 km in either direction. For seventy-seven years—from 1947 to 2024—the railway line that ran through it was closed, torn up, abandoned. The railway opened in 1872. The Midland Great Western ran it. Then it closed, and the village turned inward.

In May 2024, the Boyne Valley to Lakelands Greenway opened. It follows the exact line of the old railway. Wilkinstown is on it. There is now a monthly market (first Saturday), a playground behind the community centre, and Park Beo—a bike-hire place with e-bikes, picnic areas, and accessible facilities. Scoil Naomh Barra, the school, opened in 1971 and has 230 pupils. The village came back because the old railway became new again.

Walk it on a quiet day. The line is flat and straight for miles. You can see why the engineers chose it. The history is invisible now—just the gravel path and the fields. But the path is there because someone else walked it, 150 years ago, and thought: this is the way.

Coords

53.6000° N, 6.8333° W

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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 Greenway

Walk the old rails.

The Boyne Valley to Lakelands Greenway opened in May 2024, following the abandoned Navan–Kingscourt railway (1872–1947). Wilkinstown sits on it. Walk from Navan through here, on to Nobber, and keep going to Kingscourt. 30 km total.

Getting there → 02 Park Beo

Bike hire, safe parking, picnic space.

Opened alongside the greenway. E-bikes and regular bikes, accessible toilets, covered gazebos, bike maintenance. No booking needed. Stop and eat. This is why the greenway matters.

Next stops → 03 The crossroads

Between Navan and the north.

Wilkinstown sits on the R162, equidistant from Navan (10 km south) and Nobber (10 km north). A pub, community centre, convenience store, a school that has been here since 1971.

Stories & lore →

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Stories & lore.

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

1872–1947, then 2024

The Railway

Wilkinstown railway station was a wayside stop on the Dublin–Navan–Kingscourt branch line, opened in 1872 and largely operated by the Midland Great Western Railway. It closed in 1947, the station demolished, the line abandoned. For 77 years it was just overgrown track through fields. In 2021, work began to lift the remains and build the Boyne Valley to Lakelands Greenway. It opened in May 2024, a 30 km cycling and walking path. Wilkinstown is now a stop again—not for trains, but for people who want to walk the old route and understand that nothing is wasted, just waiting.

School built 1971, still here

Scoil Naomh Barra

The school opened on 20 September 1971, bringing together pupils from the old schoolhouses at Wilkinstown and nearby Kilberry. It is a vertical school—all classes from Junior Infants to 6th class—under the patronage of the Bishop of Meath. It has about 230 pupils and has been the heart of the village for over 50 years. It is the reason families stay.

Born with the greenway

Park Beo

Park Beo opened alongside the Boyne Valley to Lakelands Greenway in 2024. It is a simple idea: a place to park safely, rent a bike, have a picnic, use accessible toilets, and drink a coffee before you ride. Feel Good Bikes runs the bike hire. 3.5 acres of outdoor space, no booking, no fuss. The greenway could have just been a path. Instead, it became a reason to stop.