Sunday, November 20, 2016

32. Armagh - Navan Centre and Fort

Not to be confused with Navan Shopping Centre in County Meath, Navan Centre and Fort in Armagh is one of Ireland’s most famous archaeological sites, where myth and reality meet.
Located in the heart of the county, Navan Centre and Fort was one of the great royal sites of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland and the capital of the ancient province of Ulaid. The history of Navan Fort is a veritable Who’s Who of Irish myths and legends with the likes of Cú Chulainn, King Conchobar MacNessa, Queen Mebh, Deirdre of the Sorrows and teenage heart-throbs the Red Branch Warriors all hanging around the fort at various points in its history.
Nowadays, an interpretive centre on the site of Navan Centre and Fort offers visitors a unique interpretation of this history with exhibitions packed full of facts and fables, artefacts and activities, as well as recreations of many of the dwellings of the time along with demonstrations of their old ways of weaving, cooking and farming. So much effort has gone in to recreate the exact ancient experience, the only real criticism you could make is that the Fort doesn’t have the severed heads of enemies hanging from its walls.



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