Start at Fourknocks
If you’ve time for only one thing at Naul, make it Fourknocks. The passage tomb sits about 1.5 km north-west of the village, and inside its low grassy mound are stones carved with the zig-zags and lozenges of Neolithic art, along with what’s been called one of the earliest depictions of a human face in Irish prehistory. It’s roughly 4,000 years old – Fingal dates it to around 1800 BC – and it was excavation in the 1950s that brought the carvings to light.
One caveat: you can’t count on wandering inside. The interior has been kept locked, so unless you’ve arranged access, treat the mound, its setting and the wider Neolithic ridge as the draw rather than the chamber itself. Naul sits in a genuinely old landscape – about 2 km south-east, the earthworks of Knockbrack hill-fort and its tumuli mark much later Bronze- and Iron-Age settlement, with wide views over the Delvin valley.
Two castles, two counties
Naul (Irish: An Aill, ‘the cliff’) grew up where the River Delvin marks the boundary between County Dublin and Meath, and the border still carries a castle on each bank. On the Dublin side is the Black Castle, a ruined tower house known variously as the Castle of the Roches, Cruise’s Castle or simply Naul Castle. Across the water in Meath stands the White Castle, built of lighter stone – the two were a matched pair guarding the crossing.
The surviving Black Castle tower is 15th-century, but there was a castle here from the late 12th century, when Anglo-Norman settlers set up a manor. The De Geneville family built the first one; around 1200 the manor passed by marriage to Stephen de Crues, who is also credited with the small medieval church nearby.
The river, the falls and Lady Well
Below the village the Delvin runs through steep wooded banks, rising to cliffs of about 20 metres at one point. There’s a natural waterfall on the river – the Waterfall of the Roches – and a man-made pond that feeds a small private hydroelectric plant, a quiet piece of engineering most visitors pass without noticing. About 125 metres east of the Black Castle, the chalybeate (iron-rich) Lady Well was long visited for its mineral waters and is still a quiet corner of the valley.
Traditional music at the Séamus Ennis centre
The Séamus Ennis Arts Centre is named for the uilleann piper, folklorist and song collector who grew up in the area. It opened on 23 October 2001, converted over five years from a pair of cottages, and it runs recitals, trad sessions, workshops and music tuition through the year. The centre has a café; Killian’s is the village pub, and the spot for a pint and a chat.
The 2019 community dig
During National Heritage Week 2019, Naul Community Council ran an excavation in Sexton’s Field, the plot just north of the old graveyard and about 40 metres from the Black Castle. Nearly 40 volunteers turned up medieval pottery, a plough pebble and clear evidence of cultivation running from the 13th right through to the 19th century, confirming the field as farmland within the medieval manor the whole way through. The findings were written up in a public heritage guide.
Getting there
Naul is an easy run off the M1: take junction 6, follow the R122 north for about 5 km, then the R108 towards Drogheda and the local signs. There’s free on-street parking along the main road.
Buses 195 (Ashbourne–Balbriggan) and 192 both serve the village and connect to Balbriggan train station, roughly 10–12 km east on the Dublin–Dundalk commuter line. Reilly’s Daybreak on Main Street doubles as the post office; the nearest libraries are at Garristown and Balbriggan. Bring what you need for a meal, as the village is small and the options are few.
Nearby
- Balbriggan (about 10 km) – a seaside town with a harbour, a sandy beach and cafés.
- Lusk (about 10 km) – a round tower, medieval church and heritage centre.
- Ardgillan Castle (about 10 km) – an 18th-century house in parkland above the Irish Sea, with gardens, a playground and tea rooms.
- Drogheda (about 15 km) – medieval walls, St Peter’s Church and the Boyne.
Line up Fourknocks, the two castles and Balbriggan’s strand and you’ve a full day along the Delvin.