Navan Athletic Club can trace its roots back to St. Mary’s Athletic Club of the 1940s and 50s.  After a short break it reformed under the De La Salle Social Club where so many of our present Sporting and Cultural Societies were fostered.  The annual De La Salle Sports Day was one of the highlights in the towns calendar where athletes from the six different town districts competed against each other.

The Club grew in numbers and strength and as a result independence from De La Salle was encouraged.  In October 1973 Navan Athletic Club was founded under the Chairmanship of the late John Murtagh.  The aim of the club was to provide athletic facilities for juvenile, junior and senior athletes.  It was decided to retain the De La Salle singlet with the addition of yellow shorts at a later date.

Training was held in O’Mahonys and Pairc Tailteann every Tuesday and Friday night while efforts were continuing to acquire training facilities and set up Navan A.C.’s first Club House.  Representation was made to the G.A.A. in the early 1970s but as there was no land available members decided in 1979 to join with Parkvilla and purchase a six and a half acre site at Claremont, over ten years, with each club paying 50% of the cost.

A Voluntary Committee made up of representatives of Navan Athletic Club and Parkvilla Football Club manages Claremont Stadium.  The members of the Central Committee have jointly owned, managed and developed the stadium since it opened in 1981.

After a number of years, it became clear that Navan was in need of modern sporting facilities.  The government recognised that Claremont Stadium was a prime sporting location and in 1994 allocated £300,000 of lottery funding towards an indoor athletic stadium.  While the athletic communities in North Leinster were thrilled with the prospect of such a facility, Claremont committee recognised that it would not meet the needs of our rapidly expanding county.  An application was made to transfer the grant to provide an Olympic standard outdoor athletic facility and upgrade the existing stadium.  This would enable the committee to provide a greater range of sporting and leisure pursuits for the community.

In 1999 the grant was transferred and work began on the site.  “This development will have an impact not only in this town and the county but across all of North Leinster”, commented Minister Noel Dempsey as he launched the plans for the new development.