Meath, a county in Leinster province in eastern Ireland, is located on the Irish Sea coast. It is situated on Ireland's fertile central plain. The chief rivers are the Blackwater and the Boyne.

Livestock raising is the economic mainstay, and there is some farming of grains and potatoes. Light industry, limited to the larger towns, includes textiles and furniture.

Meath was part of the Irish middle kingdom from the 2d century BC. It was chartered as a county in 1296. Newgrange is the site of one of the largest of the prehistoric passage graves in the Boyne valley. It measures approximately 85 m (280 ft) wide and still stands 12 m (40 ft) high, rivaling a companion structure at nearby Knowth. A single passage 25 m (82.5 ft) in length leads to a cruciform chamber with characteristic corbeled roof and with side chambers containing ornamental stone basins among its grave furniture. Around the outside of the mound stood a circle of standing stones, of which 12 now survive. The stones of the passage and of its entrance curbstone were ornamented with spiral and other designs characteristic of megalithic art in the Atlantic region of prehistoric Europe. The tomb was in use throughout the late Neolithic Period of the 3d millennium BC.