Visit Duleek

Duleek is a village in the Boyne Valley, a short drive south of Drogheda. It grew around one of Ireland's earliest stone churches and later around St Mary's Abbey, whose ruined church, tower, and high crosses still stand in the heart of the village.

St Mary's Abbey, Duleek.

Duleek takes its name from the Irish daimh liag or Damhliag, meaning house of stones. The name refers to an early stone church dedicated to St Cianan, whose ruins are still visible in the village. Tradition holds that St Patrick established a bishopric here about 450 AD and placed it in the care of St Cianan on 24 November 489. Many sources describe that early building as among the first stone churches in Ireland.

The monastery was sacked several times by the Norsemen between about 830 and 1149, and was pillaged by the Anglo-Normans in 1171. In April 1014 the bodies of Brian Ború and his son are said to have lain in state at Duleek on their way to burial at Armagh after the Battle of Clontarf. Hugh de Lacy, first Anglo-Norman overlord of Meath, later established a manor and motte castle here. About 1180 he granted St Cianan's Church and lands to the Augustinians, and the earlier monastery was reconstituted as St Mary's Abbey.

St Mary's Abbey

St Mary's Abbey is one of the great churches of the 12th century in the Boyne Valley. In the 16th century a massive square tower was built alongside an earlier round tower. The round tower is gone, but the scar where it joined the square tower remains clear on the northern face. The site is freely accessible year round as an outdoor National Monument in the heart of the village.

High cross in the churchyard at Duleek.

In the churchyard stand two Celtic high crosses, the North Cross and the South Cross, believed to date from the 9th or 10th century. They are similar in tradition to the great crosses at Monasterboice, with carvings that include crucifixion scenes, episodes from the life of the Virgin Mary, and symbols of the Evangelists. Within the ruined church are early cross-slabs, a Romanesque pilaster capital, and the base and head of the South Cross.

In the aisle are 16th and 17th century monuments, including an effigial tomb of Dr Cusack, Bishop of Meath from 1679 to 1688. One tomb covers Lord Bellew, killed at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691. A mensa slab is supported by tomb surrounds bearing the arms of Bellew, Plunkett, Preston, and St Lawrence. The east window, with the arms of Sir John Bellew and Dame Ismay Nugent beneath it, is a 1587 post-Gothic replacement. Local tradition also says King William slept at Duleek after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

Around the Village

A walk around Duleek rewards visitors beyond the abbey alone. On the green, the Courthouse of 1838 was built as a sessions house for the Meath Grand Jury and is associated with architect Francis Johnston. Nearby Connell's House is said to be the oldest house in the village and was already standing at the time of the Battle of the Boyne. The Parochial House of 1795 looks over the green, while St Cianan's Roman Catholic Church, rebuilt in the early 19th century, is noted for its high ceiling, stained glass, and an ancient baptismal font.

Beside the ruined abbey is the former St Kienan's Church of Ireland church, built in 1816 and now home to Tribe Restaurant.

After the Battle of the Boyne, people in Duleek are said to have planted two entwined saplings, an ash for Mary and a lime for William. A significant Huguenot community of French Protestants lived here at that time. The ash did not survive into living memory, but the lime tree still stands on the village green and is often described as the oldest and largest lime in Ireland. The indent where the ash once pressed against it remains visible on the north side. Huguenot settlers also brought weaving to Duleek in the 17th century, working hand looms in narrow lanes such as Larrix Street and Kingsgate and selling cloth at the Linen Hall in Drogheda.

The ruins of St Cianan's original stone church stand northwest of St Mary's Abbey, across the road from the priory ruins.

Duleek is marked by several wayside crosses. In the marketplace, a cross erected in 1601 by Janet Dowdall remembers her husband William Bathe of Athcarne Castle, with a small heart in a ring carved as a sign of conjugal love. Related Bathe-Dowdall crosses stand near Annesbrook and Whitecross by Athcarne. At Mill Hill, the Berford Cross remembers Thomasina Berford, wife of William Moore of Downstown, who died in 1635. It was moved more than once before finding its present place at the east end of the village.

North of the village, Duleek Commons is marshy common land valued for plants and wild birds, where locals once grazed livestock and geese. In folklore it was a hideout for Collier the Robber, a Bellewstown-born highwayman of the early 19th century who robbed mail coaches and was eventually transported to Australia. South of the village, the oldest Nanny bridge is a three-arch structure mentioned in statute rolls of 1459 as the Bridge of the Maudelynes. It was repaired in 1587 by William Bathe and Janet Dowdall, and a plaque on the bridge still records their work. Nearby, Jacobite forces made a last stand during the Battle of the Boyne as Williamite troops forced a crossing of the narrow bridge over boggy ground.

Coach house at Duleek, once a staging post on the Dublin to Belfast route.

Along the Ashbourne to Drogheda road, at the end of the causeway, stands this coach house dating from about 1800. It was originally built as a coach house and post office, where horses were changed on the Dublin to Belfast route. The road came from Ardcath across the causeway to Duleek before continuing to Drogheda, and the hill down from Ardcath was a favorite hold-up point for Collier the Robber in local lore. From here there is a fine view across the river toward Duleek House. Annesbrook House nearby was visited by George IV in 1821 and later admired by the writer William Thackeray. In the townland of Keenogue, traditionally the birthplace of St Cianan, St Cianan's Well can still be seen, and a Bronze Age burial site found nearby around 1930 produced artefacts now held by the National Museum of Ireland.

Visiting Duleek

Duleek is an easy stop between Dublin, Drogheda and the wider Boyne Valley. From the M1, take exit 8 and follow the R152 into the village. From Drogheda, take the R152; from Navan, approach via Kentstown on the R150. The abbey ruins and churchyard are free and open year round in daylight. Allow time to walk the green, see the lime tree and wayside crosses, then continue to the abbey and St Cianan's ruins if you enjoy village history as well as monastic sites.

On a private day tour, Duleek pairs well with Monasterboice, Mellifont Abbey, the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Center at Oldbridge, and Brú na Bóinne. Tell us what you most want to see and we will shape an itinerary around your pace and interests.