MikeyFuccon: My parents grew up in the Boyne Valley only a few minutes drive from Newgrange (my mother in Drogheda, the largest town in the area; my father in Bettystown, now a bedroom community of Drogheda, long a seaside resort on the Irish Sea---apparently the Tara Brooch was found there by a child on holiday).

When I was small it was still possible for locals who knew the back roads to sneak in the back way to the Newgrange site (with a curious nephew in tow), and not have to stand in line behind a bunch of American tourists.

So definitely getting a kick out of these replies.

Newgrange is about five miles from Drogheda, and is an easy day trip from Dublin (bus or train to Drogheda will take about an hour; a cab will get you the rest of the way). Nobody visiting Ireland for the first time has a good excuse to  miss it.

Drogheda itself has a few things to see in the town centre---St. Peter's Church (home of the head of St. Oliver Plunkett), St. Laurence Gate, the Magdalene Tower, the Millmount Museum and, of course, the River Boyne---but nothing worth staying overnight for. Have a pint at a local pub (Clarke's, open since 1900, is a popular choice) before taking the train back to Dublin.