Oldbridge

Oldbridge is a townland near Drogheda in County Meath, Ireland. Things of note in the area are the Boyne Navigation, Battle of the Boyne Interpretive centre and the Mary McAleese Boyne Valley Bridge carrying the M1 motorway.

The townland represents the furthest tidal reach on the River Boyne at a point called the "Curly Hole", a noted fishing location. Prior to the 12th century this was the lowest crossing point of the Boyne. The Abbey of Mellifont owned the lands and fisheries here at dissolution in 1539. It was described then as "Oldebryge. 26 fishermen with 26 boats de Corrio (sc.corachs) paying £13.6.8".The Irish coracle, here corrachs, was used for salmon fishing at this location up to recent times. The last made was by Michael O’Brien of Oldbridge in 1928 for Adolf Mahr director of the National Museum.

Battle of the Boyne Site

The site of the Battle of the Boyne sprawls over a wide area west of the town of Drogheda. In the County Development Plan for 2000, Meath County Council rezoned the land at the eastern edge of Oldbridge, at the site of the main Williamite crossing, to residential status. A subsequent planning application for a development of over 700 houses was granted by Meath County Council and this was appealed by local historians to An Bord Pleanala (The Planning Board) . In March 2008 after an extremely long appeal process, An Bord Pleanala approved permission for this development to proceed. However, due to the current economic climate in Ireland, no work has yet started on this development.

The current Interpretive Centre ^[1] dedicated to informing tourists and other visitors about the battle is about 1-mile (1.6 km) to the west of the main crossing point. This facility was redeveloped in 2008 and is now open for tourists. The battle's other main combat areas (at Duleek, Donore and Plattin – along the Jacobite line of retreat) are marked with tourist information signs.

On 4 April 2007 in a sign of improving relations between unionist and nationalist groups, the newly elected First Minister of Northern Ireland, the Reverend Ian Paisley, was invited to visit the battle site by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister)Bertie Ahern later in the year. Following the invitation, Paisley commented that "such a visit would help to demonstrate how far we have come when we can celebrate and learn from the past so the next generation more clearly understands." On 10 May the visit took place, and Paisley presented the Taoiseach with a Jacobite musket in return for Ahern's gift at the St Andrews talks of a walnut bowl made from a tree from the site. A new tree was also planted in the grounds of Oldbridge House by the two politicians to mark the occasion.^[2]

References