Editing Slane (section)

==History==
[[File:House - geograph.org.uk - 166686.jpg|thumb|right|One of the four private [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] houses at the centre of the village.]]

The area and its surroundings have been inhabited since at least the [[Prehistoric Ireland|Neolithic era]]. Habitation at the Hill of Slane settlement and upon the introduction of Christianity is attested in the [[Annals of Inisfallen]] and hagiography of [[Saint Patrick]]. The earliest surviving structures within the boundaries of the modern-day village were built by the invading [[Normans|Norman]] family of the Flanders (now Fleming), during the [[Norman invasion of Ireland]]. The most relatively undisturbed structure, built under the [[Lordship of Ireland|feudal lordship]] of this family, is a [[motte and bailey]], which is in close proximity to the Hill of Slane settlement.

Following the [[Treaty of Limerick#The Williamite Settlement forfeitures|Williamite confiscations]], which saw the Flemings dispossessed, the present form of the Castle and the village centre were re-cast and in the latter case, laid out as a model British village by the Ulster [[Mountcharles#Name|plantation family]] of the Conynghams, in what is considered a typical example of 18th-century town planning.

As part of this remodelling, today in the centre of the village stand four nearly identical [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] houses. The four houses stand at the intersection of the two main streets in the village.  While the four faces of the houses and the four ''open'' streets form an [[octagon]]. The feature is known as ''The Square'' due to what is seen as the [[vertex (geometry)|vertex]] position, that each house occupies. The southwesternmost house that forms the square, served as the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] barracks and [[gaol]], up until the founding of the [[Irish War of Independence|Irish State]]. The two main streets in the village feature 18th-century grey limestone buildings with slate roofs, [[oriel windows]] and archways.<ref name="Trench">{{cite book | author = Trench, C.E.F.| year=1995 | title=Slane | publisher=An Taisce – the National Trust for Ireland | isbn=0-903693-09-7}}</ref>

The village centre also incorporates "Gallows hill",<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://iafs.ie/archives/637 |title=Irish Archaeology Site assessment, field survey and reportin |access-date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=17 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017042115/http://iafs.ie/archives/637 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://blackfriary.wordpress.com/page/3/ |title=Hill of Slane – field school open day |access-date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=16 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016230123/https://blackfriary.wordpress.com/page/3/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> the foot of which is essentially the location of the present day "Slane [[Credit Union]]" and a hill so named for the [[United Irishmen]] who were publicly executed there on a [[gallows]] in an attempt to deter further agitations for independence, following the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|failed 1798 uprising]].

In 2007 [[Meath County Council]] proposed that both Slane village and the mill be recognised as Architectural Conservation Areas and protected accordingly.<ref name="MeathPlan07">{{cite web | url = http://meathtourism.ie/LocalAuthorities/Publications/PlanningandDevelopmentPublications/CountyMeathPlanningPublications/DraftCountyMeathDevelopmentPlan2007-2013/File,7098,en.pdf | title = Appendix III – Architectural Conservation Areas | access-date = 10 October 2007 | year = 2007 | work = Draft Meath County Development Plan 2007–2013 | publisher = [[Meath County Council]] | pages = 389–390 | archive-date = 20 November 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071120010013/http://meathtourism.ie/LocalAuthorities/Publications/PlanningandDevelopmentPublications/CountyMeathPlanningPublications/DraftCountyMeathDevelopmentPlan2007-2013/File,7098,en.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>