Editing Ardbraccan (section)

==Origins==
The original name for Ardbraccan is said to have been Magh Tortain named after the Uí Tuirtri people of the [[Oirghialla|Oirghalla]].<ref name=":1" />  The area is said to have maintained strong druidic traditions until St. Brecan converted the local Uí Borthim tribe in the 6th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Navan Historical Society - History of Ardbraccan |url=http://www.navanhistory.ie/index.php?page=beryl-moore-lecture-2 |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=www.navanhistory.ie}}</ref> It was home to 2 of Ireland's sacred Celtic trees -  ''Bile Tortain'' and the ''Mullyfaughan'' tree.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Healy |first=Alison |date=2023-12-20 |title=Sundering of long-standing cedar tree may be a portent for our times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/sundering-of-long-standing-cedar-tree-may-be-a-portent-for-our-times-1.685140 |access-date=2023-12-21 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> There are many local [[druid]] wells in the area, 2 of which were dedicated to [[Ultan of Ardbraccan|St. Ultan of Ardbraccan]] and [[Brigid of Kildare|St. Brigid]] after the introduction of Christianity.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harney |first=Lorcan |date=2017 |title=Christianising pagan worlds in conversion-era Ireland: archaeological evidence for the origins of Irish ecclesiastical sites |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3318/priac.2017.117.07 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature |volume=117C |pages=103–130 |doi=10.3318/priac.2017.117.07 |jstor=10.3318/priac.2017.117.07 |s2cid=165970409 |issn=0035-8991|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The current name of Ardbraccan originates from the [[Irish language|Irish]] placename ''Ard Breacáin'', meaning the heights or hill of ''[[Saint Brecan|Breacán]]'''<ref name=":0" />'''. St. Breacán'' (anglacised as ''Brecan or Braccan'') was the founder of a Christian monastery in the locality.  He is thought to have established a monastery on a high mound in the sixth or early seventh century.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Cogan |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7p8EkYy0Wy4C&dq=ardbraccan&pg=PA53 |title=The Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern |date=1862 |publisher=J. F. Fowler |language=en}}</ref>  On this high point, a monastery and a succession of churches were built, each larger than the last to accommodate the growing number of religious worshippers.  This included a large circular church known ''Daimhliag'' ("stone house").

Ardbraccan is mentioned in [[Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib|Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib]] as the site of a victory of the [[Uí Néill]] over the Vikings sometime in the mid-9th century. However the accuracy of this medieval text is questionable and has been cited as propaganda.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beckett |first=J.C. |date=28 July 2016 |title=The Oxford illustrated history of Ireland. Edited by R.F. Foster. Pp xvi, 382. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1989. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021121400010336 |journal=Irish Historical Studies |volume=27 |issue=105 |pages=78–79 |doi=10.1017/s0021121400010336 |s2cid=164164673 |issn=0021-1214}}</ref>