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NAVAN |
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At NAVAN the River Blackwater meets the Boyne. It's an historic
crossroads - important in the days when the waterways were the chief
means of transport - and also a modern one. The N3 comes up from Dublin
to follow the course of the Blackwater to Kells and to the Loughcrew
Mountains in the northwestern corner of Meath; the N51 arrives from
Drogheda to continue into Westmeath, its interest diminishing rapidly as
you go; and to the south you can take the N3 to Tara , Dunsany and then
go eastwards on minor roads to Bective Abbey and Trim .
Although it offers access to a lot of places and has a tourist office ,
located behind the local library on Railway St (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun
10am-1pm; tel 046/21581), Navan itself has little to detain you. There
are a couple of hotels here and a number of fairly simple B&Bs not far
away, should you wish to stay , such as Lios na Greinne in the Athlumney
area a twenty-minute walk from the centre (tel 046/28092;
£33-40/¬41.90-50.79); Dunlair House , Old Rd (tel 046/72551;
£33-40/¬41.90-50.79); or the excellent Athlumney Manor (tel 046/71388,
pboylan@eircom.net ; £33-40/¬41.90-50.79), less than a mile out of town
on the Duleek road. A good upmarket option is the modern Newgrange Hotel
on Bridge St (tel 046/73732, www.newgrangehotel.ie ;
£70-90/¬88.88-114.28) with a fine restaurant, The Bridge Brasserie ,
which does an excellent tourist menu for £14.50/¬18.41. You'll find a
good cheap lunch at Susie's Cookhouse , centrally placed on the Market
Square, or at The Loft on Trimgate St which has a fun, relaxed ambience.
A little more upmarket is Hudson's Bistro (tel 046/29231) on Railway St
which has an eclectic menu with good vegetarian choices. Peter
Kavanagh's on Trimgate St is a good, old-fashioned pub . Molloys on
Bridge St, opposite the infirmary, hosts traditional-music sessions on a
Thursday, as does the Lantern , Watergate St every Wednesday; the
Lantern also hosts poetry readings once a month.
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