Historic county of Ireland
Meath
County of Meath
Province: Leinster
Boyne through fertile plains, with Ireland’s great ceremonial landscapes above it.
Meath is centred on the broad valley of the Boyne and some of Ireland’s richest eastern lowland. Much of the county is open, gently rolling agricultural country, crossed by the Boyne and its tributaries rather than divided by major mountain barriers.
Within that apparently gentle landscape lie places of exceptional symbolic importance. Tara and the prehistoric landscapes of the lower Boyne connect Meath with ideas of kingship, ceremony and political centrality extending far beyond the later county itself. Fertile plain, great river and ceremonial landscape together explain the county’s distinctive character.
- The Royal County
- County by the 12th century
- Tara, Boyne and Brú na Bóinne
- Central kingdom of medieval Ireland
County geography
The Boyne
The Boyne and its tributaries give Meath its clearest physical organisation.
The river links otherwise broad and open farmland with a succession of crossing places, settlements and historic landscapes.
The Royal County
Meath’s familiar title, the Royal County, reflects the long association of Tara with Irish kingship.
That tradition forms a cultural layer upon the county’s physical geography rather than defining its boundaries.
Older Meath and geographic Meath
The older kingdom and province of Mide or Meath extended well beyond the later geographic county.
The two should therefore not be treated as identical territories. Geographic Meath emerged within a much older landscape carrying the same broad territorial name.
County questions
Questions about Meath
Why is Meath called the Royal County?
Because of Tara’s exceptionally strong historical and symbolic association with Irish kingship.
Why is there a Westmeath but no Eastmeath?
Westmeath was separated from the western part of the earlier County Meath in the sixteenth century. The remaining county continued to be called simply Meath rather than Eastmeath.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County Meath
- Province
- Leinster
- Alternative name
- County of Meath
Meath is one of the twelve geographic counties of Leinster. Its Boyne valley and fertile plains provide the enduring geographical setting beneath much older traditions of Mide, Tara and royal centrality.