Boyne

Boyne, a river in the east of Ireland, rises in the Bog of Allen, and flows through Kildare, King's county, Meath, and Louth. It passes Trim, Navan, and Slane, and enters the Irish Sea 4 miles below Drogheda, after a course of about 80 miles in a carboniferous limestone basin, its total descent being 336 feet. On its estuary near Drogheda there is a lighthouse with fixed light, there are three at the entrance to the harbour, and a viaduct 95 feet in height conducts the Great Northern Railway across the river. Its chief tributaries are the Mattock and Blackwater. It is navigable for vessels of 250 tons to Drogheda, and for barges of 70 tons to Navan, 19 miles up. Its banks are studded with many ruins of monasteries and castles. In 838 Turgesius the Dane sailed up the Boyne and plundered Meath. But this river is chiefly famous for the battle of the Boyne, which was fought on its banks, 3 miles W. of Drogheda, on 12th July 1690, and in which William III. defeated James II. William's loss was 500, James's three times that number. An obelisk, 150 feet high, marks the scene of the battle.