Northern Ireland

€10 million of Dublin funding will develop new visitor experience at Battle of the Boyne site

Site of 1690 battle is of significance to Orange Order, who celebrate King William’s victory on Twelfth of July

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern hands Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley a 300-year-old musket during their visit to the historic Battle of the Boyne site in Co Meath in 2007. Both men returned the following year to open a visitor centre. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern hands Stormont First Minister Ian Paisley a 300-year-old musket during their visit to the historic Battle of the Boyne site in Co Meath in 2007. PICTURE: NIALL CARSON/PA
By Paul Ainsworth

The site of the Battle of the Boyne is to benefit from €10 million of the Irish government’s Shared Island financial package to reflect its “historic significance” to communities on both sides of the border.

The site at Oldbridge in Co Meath was named as a recipient of a share of the €800m on Tuesday, and the money will go towards the development of a “renewed visitor experience”.

The location is where Protestant King William of Orange defeated the forces of the Catholic King James II of England in 1690 - the battle celebrated annually on July 12 by the Orange Order.

The current visitor centre was developed following Irish government funding of €15m in 2005.

The government had said the preservation and development of the battle site was part of its commitment to “actively promoting and developing respect, reconciliation and mutual understanding between the different traditions on the island of Ireland” under the Good Friday Agreement.

The Battle of the Boyne is commemorated by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland. PICTURE: ALAN LEWIS/PHOTOPRESS (Justin Kernoghan/Photopress Belfast)

The site was famously chosen in 2007 as the venue for DUP leader Ian Paisley to hold his first official meeting as Stormont first minister with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

The meeting, which took place days after Mr Paisley’s historic decision to share power with Sinn Féin in a new Stormont Executive, saw Mr Ahern present the first minister with a musket believed to have been used in both the Battle of the Boyne and another historic event venerated by unionists in the north, the 1688 Siege of Derry.