Ireland's Boyne Valley is an area of great historical importance, of fertile lands, ancient crosses, abbeys, castles and fine houses, a place where battles were fought and High Kings crowned. Its richly varied past is peopled with names such as St Patrick, Poynings, King William, Oliver Cromwell, Jonathan Swift, Lord Dunsany, Francis Ledwidge, and Admiral Francis Beaufort, deviser of the Beaufort Scale.