Free Guide - Discover Ireland

Millmount Museum
Millmount Museum and Martello Tower
are situated on high ground in the heart
of Drogheda near to where the river Boyne
finally meets the sea
Shortly after the Anglo-Norman King Henry II granted him the
Kingdom of Meath in 1172, Hugh de Lacy constructed a motte
and bailey on a huge mound overlooking the River Boyne. A
more substantial stone fort replaced the earlier structure.
According to Irish mythology, the mound
was the burial place of Amergin mac Míled,
druid, bard and judge of the Milesians.
Amergin was the son of Míl Espáine and
brother of Éremón (see Myths & Legends,
p. 38). The true origin of the mound is
unclear, however, it is thought that it may
be a large passage tomb, similar to those
at nearby Brú na Bóinne.
This castle formed part of the defences
of the town during Cromwell’s siege of
Drogheda in 1649. The garrison were
massacred when they surrendered to
Parliamentarian troops on September
8 FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO WWW.DISCOVERIRELAND.IE/BOYNEVALLEY
11th, 1649. In the early 1800s the earlier
fortifications were demolished and
replaced by a Martello Tower as part of a
series of defences erected along the Irish
coast by the British in expectation of an
invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Millmount Museum houses various
exhibitions dealing with archaeology,
folklife, local history, geology, industry and
military history. The museum also contains
one of the four surviving examples of an
ancient type of fishing vessel, called a
coracle, that were once a common sight
on the Boyne. Coracles were made of
wicker and covered with animal hide, or