The modern Navan Parish is made up of five mediaeval parishes: Athlumney, Cannistown, Donaghmore, Dunmoe and Navan. Though cemeteries still survive in these locations, the churches were suppressed in the Penal Laws era, with many surviving simply as derelict buildings.
St Mary's Church is named after a mediaeval abbey which was located on the outskirts of the Parish called St Mary's. St Mary's Abbey and its associated granges were suppressed on the orders of King Henry VIII, the English monarch proclaimed King of Ireland, who suppressed religious orders throughout his English and Irish kingdoms, often forcibly, as part of his dispute with the Holy See over its refusal to grant an annulment of his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
The modern St Mary's was one of many Catholic Churches in Ireland built following Catholic Emancipation in 1829, when the last of the Penal Laws was repealed. It is located on Trimgate Street, one of the main streets of the mediaeval town of Navan, though the more widely used entrance faces onto Fair Green, where parking is available.
The church itself contains a monument commemorating the fact that it was built with the permission of the major landowner in the area at the time, the Duke of Bedford. The Duke's family, the Russells, were also commemorated until recently in the name of a nearby hotel (since rebuilt and renamed). The local Church of Ireland contains a balcony that was reserved for the duke and his family when they attended services there.
This cache is hidden in a very very busy area please be extremely cautious when retrieving and placing back