Yellow Furze is a small village in the Boyne Valley, 5 km southwest of Slane, in County Meath. It sits on the boundary between the townlands of Dollardstown and Seneschalstown, in the parish of Beauparc, which runs along the south side of the River Boyne. Newgrange—the passage tomb older than the pyramids—is 2 km away. Knowth is close. Dowth is close. You cannot be here without knowing you are in a place where people built monuments to death and memory 5,000 years before anyone built Chartres.
The village has no grand story and no pretension. It has a cemetery, a parish that endures. It has the Yellow Furze GAA club, founded in 1885 and present at the first Meath county convention in 1887, when the county's first championship was played. Dowdstown won. Yellow Furze did not. But they were there. They have always been there.
Walk here on a clear day. Look west towards Newgrange. Look south towards Navan. Look north towards Slane. You are standing in the middle of the Boyne Valley, in the place where Ireland's oldest story is told in stone. Yellow Furze is the village that stayed while kings and priests and archaeologists came.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
Yellow Furze sits 5 km southwest of Slane, in the Boyne Valley. Brú na Bóinne—Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth—the UNESCO World Heritage passage tombs, are just 2 km away. You are in the most important prehistoric archaeology in Western Europe.
Next stops → 02 The GAAYellow Furze GAA was established in 1885, just a year after the GAA was founded nationally. The club played in the first Meath county championship in 1887. That history is invisible now, but it is still here.
Stories & lore → 03 The Boyne ValleyThe village is in the parish of Beauparc, which runs along the south side of the River Boyne between Navan and Slane. This is heritage country. This is where Ireland's oldest stories live.
Getting there →The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.
Yellow Furze is 5 km southwest of Slane on the N2, near the N51. From Dublin, take the N2 north through Drogheda, then towards Slane. Continue south and west towards Beauparc and Navan. About 1 hour from Dublin city centre.
Check Bus Éireann services through Slane and the Boyne Valley. Service is limited.
Nearest stations are Drogheda (30 km north) or Navan (15 km south). Wilkinstown and Kingscourt had stations on the closed line; neither serves passengers now.