
Missionary Society of Saint Columban Cemetery
Also known as Columbans’ Cemetery
Navan, County Meath, Ireland
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Get directions Dalgan Park, Dowdstown
Navan, County Meath, C15 AY2Y IrelandCoordinates: 53.60502, -6.62824 - columbans.ie/dalgan
- Phone: 353 046 902 1525
- Cemetery ID: 2544473
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Columbans’ Cemetery is located on the grounds of Dalgan Park (Dowdstown) in Navan (County Meath)
The Society’s first seminary was established at Saint Columban’s College, in Shrule (County Mayo), in 1918. Dowdstown House in Navan (County Meath), was purchased by the Society in 1927.
Dalgan Park is located on lands once ruled by the kings of nearby Tara. The Slighe Midluachra, one of the Five Royal Roads from Tara, ran northwards though it. In 550, it reverted to local chieftains and a church was built there. After the Norman invasion the church was given to Saint Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, by Eugene, Bishop of Meath.
With King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, these lands came into the possession of the Dowdalls of Athlumney Castle and their steward occupied the farm which consisted of 184 acres, a church, and farmhouse.
The River Boyne which runs through Dalgan Park. After the Battle of the Boyne the estate with its 251 acres was granted to Robert Rochford. At the end of the 18th century, the estate – now known as Dowdstown – was bought by a British general, Thomas Taylor, one of the three Meath generals who fought under Wellington at Waterloo.
Sources record, ‘The Hon. General Taylor had a seat in the cottage style in a demesne of about 590 stature acres, of which 240 are plantations.’ On his return from the war, the general laid out the plantations to represent the placement of regiments at the famous battle, with tall trees signifying officers. He built Dowdstown House, designed by an architect from Belfast named Lynn.
The Taylors, a military family, remained as owners of Dowdstown up to 1916 though it was rented out on a number of periods. Due to the family’s military connections it was a centre for the local Hunt, a tradition which continued up to the 1960s.
Dowdstown was vacant from 1914 to 1926 when it was bought by the Columban Fathers who needed a site near Dublin to meet the growing demands of training missionaries. They paid £15,250 for the estate which they renamed ‘Dalgan’ in memory of their first college in Galway.
In 1927, the headquarters and administration of the Society moved from Shrule in Galway to Dowdstown but due to a shortage of funds, the new college could not be built until 1938. The college received its first students in 1941.
Today, Dalgan houses the administration of the Columban Missionaries in Ireland, a missionary centre and exhibition, the ‘Far East’ magazine and a retirement home for its members. Dowdstown House is still in use as a Retreat Centre, run by the diocese of Meath.
This cemetery is reserved for the members of Missionary Society of Saint Columban (also known as Columbans). Not all Columbans who have died are buried in Dalgan. A sacred space is prepared around the Crucifix in the cemetery and the relatives of Columbans who are buried overseas gather around this space while the relatives of Columbans buried in Dalgan gather around the individual headstone of their deceased relative.
Columbans’ Cemetery is located on the grounds of Dalgan Park (Dowdstown) in Navan (County Meath)
The Society’s first seminary was established at Saint Columban’s College, in Shrule (County Mayo), in 1918. Dowdstown House in Navan (County Meath), was purchased by the Society in 1927.
Dalgan Park is located on lands once ruled by the kings of nearby Tara. The Slighe Midluachra, one of the Five Royal Roads from Tara, ran northwards though it. In 550, it reverted to local chieftains and a church was built there. After the Norman invasion the church was given to Saint Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, by Eugene, Bishop of Meath.
With King Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, these lands came into the possession of the Dowdalls of Athlumney Castle and their steward occupied the farm which consisted of 184 acres, a church, and farmhouse.
The River Boyne which runs through Dalgan Park. After the Battle of the Boyne the estate with its 251 acres was granted to Robert Rochford. At the end of the 18th century, the estate – now known as Dowdstown – was bought by a British general, Thomas Taylor, one of the three Meath generals who fought under Wellington at Waterloo.
Sources record, ‘The Hon. General Taylor had a seat in the cottage style in a demesne of about 590 stature acres, of which 240 are plantations.’ On his return from the war, the general laid out the plantations to represent the placement of regiments at the famous battle, with tall trees signifying officers. He built Dowdstown House, designed by an architect from Belfast named Lynn.
The Taylors, a military family, remained as owners of Dowdstown up to 1916 though it was rented out on a number of periods. Due to the family’s military connections it was a centre for the local Hunt, a tradition which continued up to the 1960s.
Dowdstown was vacant from 1914 to 1926 when it was bought by the Columban Fathers who needed a site near Dublin to meet the growing demands of training missionaries. They paid £15,250 for the estate which they renamed ‘Dalgan’ in memory of their first college in Galway.
In 1927, the headquarters and administration of the Society moved from Shrule in Galway to Dowdstown but due to a shortage of funds, the new college could not be built until 1938. The college received its first students in 1941.
Today, Dalgan houses the administration of the Columban Missionaries in Ireland, a missionary centre and exhibition, the ‘Far East’ magazine and a retirement home for its members. Dowdstown House is still in use as a Retreat Centre, run by the diocese of Meath.
This cemetery is reserved for the members of Missionary Society of Saint Columban (also known as Columbans). Not all Columbans who have died are buried in Dalgan. A sacred space is prepared around the Crucifix in the cemetery and the relatives of Columbans who are buried overseas gather around this space while the relatives of Columbans buried in Dalgan gather around the individual headstone of their deceased relative.
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- Added: 18 Jun 2014
- Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2544473
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