The Name

O'Meara's is named after the man credited with giving the village of Navan its name - Michael O'Meara.

O'Meara immigrated to Canada from Meath County, Ireland in 1841 with his wife Julie Madden. They first settled in present day L'Orignal before acquiring a piece of property on Colonial Road just east of the village.

In 1865, he opened a post office in his home to serve the nearby residents. When asked to name the post office, he chose the name of his village back in Meath County, Ireland - Navan.

Twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays he used to travel to Sarsfield to pick up the mail that was brought in from Russell.

O'Meara was the postmaster for many years until it was moved down the road to the village where it passed into the hands of Captain Visser.

The building

In 1912, Walter Bickerton bought some land on South Road, now called Trim Road, from his uncle William Hall and built a grist mill on it which is the present day building housing O'Meara's in Navan. In 1917 he sold the property to to Hugh Lancaster before moving to Saskatchewan.

Lancaster then operated the mill for the next 30 years until 1930 when his sons Edlow and Urban took over and started Lancaster Bros. Feed
and Seed in the late '30s.

The business soon became the "meeting place" for the residents of Navan. The brothers operated the business right up until 1973, when they sold it. For the next 26 years the property changed hands several times and and was operated as a building supply company, a natural gas utility outlet and a plumbing storage facility.

In the fall of 1999, the present day owners Ted Gulliver and Anna Malawski bought the building and the adjacent property and turned it into the Navan Feed Mill Restaurant. Six years later, Gulliver turned the building immediately behind the restaurant into the Draft Horse Brewery. The name is symbolic and pays tribute to the world famous 50-Horse Hitch which took place in 2002.

More recently on Feb. 1, 2008, the restaurant underwent yet another transformation and was reopened as O'Meara's in Navan, to pay tribute to the founder of Navan, Micheal O'Meara.

O'Meara's continues to preserve the history of the historic building by remaining a "meeting place" for the residents of the Navan and welcoming respite for folks from slightly father afield in Orléans, Sarsfield, Cumberland and Vars.

Welcome and enjoy. Our only wish is to create a place that everyone from our staff to our patrons can feel proud to call their own.

Kim Haertel
General Manager