The River Boyne.

The river takes its name from Boann Irish water goddess, the river rises in the Bog of Allen, County Kildare, and flowing north east through the fertile Boyne valley, past the towns of Trim, An Uaimh, and Slane in County Meath it flows into the Irish sea at Drogheda in County Louth.

It passes close to the prehistoric site of Newgrange in Co Meath, the builders of this impressive structure are said to have used barges to transport some of the building materials along the coast from Clogherhead in Co Louth and up the Boyne to Newgrange.

The river is 113 km (70 mi) long and is navigable by shallow draft vessels only as far as Drogheda. Although canoes and small craft could proceed much further inland.

A canal was built between 1759 and 1800 to bypass the Boyne's rapids between Drogheda and Navan, there were a total of 20 locks along its length, it was abandoned in 1923. The head water for the Boyne canal were supplied by the river Boyne, a weir was built on the Boyne near Newgrange to raise the water level.

The Boyne was once famous for its salmon fishery, fishermen used the Boyne coracle to net the fish as they made their way upstream. See the building of a Boyne coracle below.