Meath

Meath , county (1991 pop. 105,370), 903 sq mi (2,339 sq km), E Republic of Ireland. The county seat is Navan . The land is mostly level, being a part of the central plain of Ireland, with extensive fertile areas near the Boyne and the Blackwater, the principal rivers. There is a sandy coastline of some 10 mi (16 km) along the Irish Sea. Grain and potato cultivation and cattle raising support the bulk of the population. Manufacturing exists in the larger towns. The region is important in Irish history. Tara was long the seat of the ancient high kings of Ireland. Meath was considered a fifth province of Ireland for many centuries and was not finally organized as a county until the 17th cent. Remains of archaeological interest have been found in the Newgrange mounds.

Meath (Mide), diocese of The Irish see of Meath in Armagh province was created in 1216 by the amalgamation of the dioceses of Clonard, Kells, and Duleek. There are still dioceses of Meath in both the Catholic and Anglican churches, with cathedrals at Trim and Kildare.

Meath [ModIr. An Mhí, the middle (place); Contae na Mí]. County of 903 square miles in the Republic of Ireland, north and west of Co. Dublin. Not identical with nor coextensive with the ancient and medieval Mide, from which the name Meath is derived. From the 8th to the 11th centuries, what is now Co. Meath was contained in the petty kingdom of Brega. Many of the most celebrated sites of early Irish civilization, e.g. Tara, Brug na Bóinne, Tailtiu, Tlachtga, as well as much of the Boyne valley, lie in Co. Meath.