(above) The 2 rows of St. Finian’s Tce on the right, with the oval shaped St. Finian’s Study Hall (later the old St. Pat’s School) in front of the Viaduct in the right background.
Photo: Bernard McCluskey
The completion of O’Growney Tce (1903) and the first phase of St Patrick’s Tce (1907) by Navan UDC had only a limited impact in solving the town’s housing problems. The Local Government Board noted the Council’s failure to rehouse those living in condemned buildings in Barrack Lane, Infirmary Hill and other parts of the town.
In 1910 Navan UDC acquired the “Seminary Field”, beside the now abandoned St. Finian’s Academy. 46 houses were built in the summer and autumn of 1911, by James Maguire, 
who had also won the contract for O’Growney Tce. In Nov. 1911 applications were invited for tenants at a rent of 3s per week, inclusive of rates to “bona- fide labourers”. If not enough labourers applied then the houses were to be let to others at a higher rent. There were 72 applications for the 46 houses. Three of the successful applicants were families from the notorious Keappock’s Lane, and 5 from small houses in Brews Hill. Some other families came from Canon Row, New Lane, Metge’s Lane and Barrack Lane.
(above) The 2 rows of St Finian’s Terrace photographed in the 1960s. (photo Meath Co.Co.)
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Some names of the original tenants who were allocated houses in St. Finian’s Tce are listed below:
Thomas Brady / Patrick Cahill / Maryann Reilly / Matthew McGoona / Patrick Rogers / Richard Corrigan / William Gerrard / Bernard Kane / Thomas McGillick / Rose Gorman / Joseph McKiernan / John Gerrard / Charles King / James Murray / John Halton / Elizabeth Gaffney / Christopher Murray / John Clarke / Anne Lynch / Patrick Kelly / Joseph Kelly / Thomas Nugent / Nicholas Brogan and J.J. Everard.
Sources:
Housing the People – from O’Growney Terrace to St. Mary’s Park, Peter Connell, published in Navan – Its People and Its Past, Vol.2 (2013), Journal of the Navan & District Historical Society