Slane
("Be Thou My Vision")
Traditional Irish Tune
arr. by Kevin Holsinger & Michèle Sharik

To the north of the village is the top of the Hill of Slane. There are a number of historic sites located around the top of the hill. Oral tradition says that St. Patrick lit a Paschal fire on this hill top in 433 CE in defiance of the High King Laoire who forbid any other fires while a festival fire was burning on the Hill of Tara. The Hill of Slane can be seen from the Hill of Tara which is about 16 km away. Laoire was so impressed by Patrick's devotion that, despite his defiance (or perhaps because of it), he let him continue his missionary work in Ireland.

It is believed that the Hill of Slane was a center of religion and learning for many centuries after St. Patrick. The ruins of a friary and church can be seen on the top of the hill. It is known that the friary was restored in 1512. The ruins include a 19 m high early gothic tower. The friary was abandoned in 1723.

On the west side of the hill there are the remains of a twelfth century Norman motte and bailey. This was the seat of the Flemings, barons of Slane. The Flemings moved to a castle on the left bank of the River Boyne. This is the current location of Slane Castle. The Flemings were lords of Slane from the twelfth century until the seventeenth century when the Conyngham family replaced them as lords of Slane during the Williamite Confiscations.

The traditional Christian hymn "Be Thou My Vision" is set to the music of an early medieval Irish folk song named Slane which is about the Hill of Slane.

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