Slane (place)
Slane ( Irish : Baile Shláine ) is a small town in the Republic of Ireland with 1,369 inhabitants (as of 2016); compared to the 1996 census, the population has almost doubled.
The village is in the northeast of County Meath on the banks of the River Boyne , about halfway between the towns of Navan to the west and Drogheda to the east. The prehistoric cult sites of Brú na Bóinne are in the vicinity of the village . Slane can be reached via the N2 from Dublin and via the N51 from Navan.
To the west of the village is Slane Castle , a neo-Gothic castle from 1785, which fell victim to a devastating fire in 1991 and was not completely restored until 2001 after many years of repair work. The Slane Castle facility is an annual venue for large pop and rock concerts , designed by music greats such as Bob Dylan , Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , U2 , the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Santana . An average of 80,000 people attend the concerts each year.
The center of the place is an intersection with a Gregorian house built at each of the four corners. All four houses are precisely aligned with the intersection. According to a local legend, the houses are said to have belonged to four warring sisters who did not want to take their eyes off one another.
The Hill of Slane (Mullach Bhaile Shláine) , which is classified as a national monument and is located about one kilometer north of the village on the N2, is of historical importance . Since the hill can be clearly seen from the Hill of Tara , it is believed that there were cultic connections between the two hills in pre-Christian times. Perhaps this prompted Saint Patrick to light the first Easter fire on the Hill of Slane . He also founded a church on the hill which later became a monastery after his death. Slane lost its bishopric status in the 12th century and the monastery fell into disrepair. Sir Christopher Flemmyng built a Franciscan collegiate monastery on the same site in the 15th century, the remains of which can still be seen today. The tower is popular with tourists for its view.
Slane is the birthplace of the poet Francis Ledwidge , who lived from 1887 to 1917.
literature
- Peter Harbison : Guide to the Naional Monuments in the Republic of Ireland Gill and Macmillan, Dublin 1992 ISBN 0-7171-1956-4 p. 191 ff.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Slane (Census Town) on citypopulation.de, accessed on October 2, 2019
- ↑ Map of Ireland (can be enlarged greatly)
Coordinates: 53 ° 43 ′ N , 6 ° 33 ′ W