The Boyne Valley: A magical journey through Ireland’s ancient past

Aerial view of Knowth, with its prehistoric passage tombs, part of the World Heritage Site of Bru na Boinne.

As I journey 30 miles north from Dublin towards the Boyne Valley, sleepy villages with their hedgerows and stone-built walls spell out tranquillity.

There’s a magic to travelling Irish country roads where canopies of trees arch and stretch.

Occasional puffs of smoke drift from chimney tops and cattle graze on sloped fields, filling their bellies with the lush greenery.

Our first stop is one of Ireland’s brightest gems – Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre, at Dun Bru, Donore, County Meath.

The Unesco World Heritage centre is one of the most important prehistoric megalithic sites in Europe where our New Stone Age ancestors created fascinating passage tombs.

From the visitor centre a bus takes us to the 3,200-year-old burial site. My travelling companions on the bus include a group of French architects, Polish nurses and an Austrian sales rep.

The mound’s stone walls echo a civilisation that carved the foundations of architecture from stone, mud and wood.

Further along the road, in Slane, is a glamping site at Rock Farm where Irish Dexter cows and chickens strut happily. In nearby yurts families plan their weekend canoeing on the River Boyne.

We travel on to the Hill of Tara to where Ireland’s ancient High Kings were inaugurated. Standing at the top of the mound, we watch the sun cast its last light of the day.

Tonight’s stopping-off place is Bellinter House Hotel in Navan. It’s a stately and imposing 18th-Century Geogian manor with impressive entrance steps but the interior is in complete contrast with its mix of bold colours and quirky lighting.

The two-AA-rosette restaurant draws from locally grown and reared fresh food.

Our next stop is Anita Reynolds’ Art and Design Studio pottery works in Shanco, Ballivor, lined with her delightful work.

Never having thrown a pot, I knew I was out of my depth but Anita’s years as an art teacher mean she can turn bewildered beginners into potters. “Just take the mini rolling pin to the clay on the table,” she says. Pastry is easy but clay can be stubborn and needs a firm hand and so after a few minutes I am carving out shapes with heart-styled pastry cutters and preparing them for the kiln.

Out the back of her studio in a neighbouring field, a weathered hawthorn tree blossoms.

“There’s folklore which says that hawthorns were never to be cut as they are ancient burial places,” she says. And so, it is left untouched for years to face the elements.

We head off along the country road past fields to Sheridan’s cheesemongers and shop.

Owner Kevin Sheridan started up his business with his wife Rachel after they graduated from Art College in Dublin. It flourished from a local market stall to become a speciality cheese manufacturer. The tearoom and deli are lined with Rachel’s paintings.

Back on the road again we decide to check out a distillery at Fore. Owner Oliver Guirk explained the merits of Poitín, which has origins in the 17th Century.

Oliver, who spent 24 years in Boston, sees this as a return to his Irish roots.

“I prepared for the whiskey business by travelling around US distilleries which have flourished after the legalisation of moonshine whiskey,” he says.

With dusk falling we stop by at Dunsany Castle to visit Randal Plunket, the Lord Dunsany.

In the entrance hall are battle helmets going back for centuries. The most recent is a Second World War German stahlhelm (steel helmet) captured from a prisoner of war who was in Rommel’s Afrika Korps.

Lord Plunket stands over six feet tall in his trainers and sports joggers as he leans against a huge marble fireplace. “I am a huge advocate of rewilding and no animals are harmed here,” he says, clutching one of his two Jack Russell terriers, Butt-Head.

The other one, Beavis, is rolling around in the antique Chinese rug at his feet.

“We have had invasive species removed by rewilding; the rhododendron is now eaten by deer.

“Everyone assumes nature must be managed but that can be an arrogant approach.

“We are not anti-farming, far from it. Everything has its place.”

A luxurious bedroom at the Station House Hotel.

We drive on to the charming Station House Hotel in Kilmessan, County Meath, which was once a train stop.

It was bought over by the Slattery family more than 35 years ago and is now in the coveted Blue Book, which lists a romantic collection of country house hotels across Ireland. “We arrived here as children and lived in one room while the ground floor was renovated,” says Suzanne Slattery.

“My mum would rent our rooms to people who came to the local racehorse sales and the business grew from there.”

Today it flourishes, not least because of its smart decor and delightful fine dining restaurant.

I have rarely felt so welcome.

P.S. The Boyne Valley is also home to Newgrange, a 5,200-year-old passage tomb that predates both Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza. During the winter solstice, sunlight streams through a carefully aligned opening above the entrance, illuminating the inner chamber in a spectacular display of ancient engineering and astronomical precision.

Factfile

Find out more about Boyne Valley and plan your trip at discoverboynevalley.ie

The Boyne Valley is reached with reasonably priced flights from Aer Lingus, which flies out of most UK airports including Glasgow and Aberdeen. Flight time is an hour from Glasgow and 90 minutes from Aberdeen – www.aerlingus.com