Terrific Trim!

Last weekend we visited the historic little town of Trim, about an hour's drive north of Dublin. It is a beautiful little town, and although very quiet now it was once a very important medieval town.

Trim Castle is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland and was the setting for the movie, Braveheart. You can still see some of the wooden torture equipment that was used in the film, including a piece that Mel Gibson was tied to. Our guide claimed that many women try to hug it when she is not looking!


The castle is amazing to see and very atmospheric. The main building, the keep, has huge dark windows that seem to stare out at you and have many black ravens flying in and out of the windows, which only adds to the atmosphere. The castle was founded by an Englishman, Hugh de Lacy, in 1173 and was originally built from wood. A few years later this was replaced by a stone keep and then walls and a moat around the keep.

 

 The day after we visited Trim Castle, I read an article in the Irish Times where it mentioned that National Geographic have listed Trim Castle as one of the top 100 life-changing experiences for children. Apparently, seeing the castle can have such an impact on a child's life that it can affect them (positively!) forever and they will always remember it! I asked Pia and Ella after school that day whether they felt their life had now been changed and they answered that they did not! Maybe they might come to change their mind as they grow older - time will tell!

They did, however, love all the space to run around the castle grounds, exploring the old walls, the one remaining gate (Sheep Gate - where sheep were let in and out to be sold), the ruins of the Great Hall and rolling down all the hills.

The tour of the keep was excellent and we had a fantastic guide. The keep consisted of 3 floors, which included a reception room, bedrooms, a chapel and the top floor was a banquet hall. It is quite well preserved inside and you can still see the foundations of where each story once was. The highlight of the bedroom we visited was that it contained an 'original' ensuite toilet! This was actually a hole in part of the stone floor that allowed your 'business' to be collected down below. Over time, this was left to build up and produce ammonia. It was then believed that this gas was good for killing germs in clothes, so clothes were hung over the toilets to 'clean' them every few months. Needless to say, the girls very much enjoyed all these toilet stories!! The views over Trim from the top of the keep were fantastic.

 

After the tour, we walked across the river and up a small hill which provided a beautiful overview of the castle grounds. The remains of the bell tower of an abbey stand there.

 

 

We then had a walk around Trim itself and saw the statue of the Duke of Wellington in the town centre. Being an Englishman, his statue almost had the same fate as the statue of Nelson in Dublin which was blown up by the IRA. Apparently, attempts were made to knock off Wellington's head, however, they missed and knocked off his sword instead, so it looks as if he is waving to all from up there now! 

 

 

On our way home, we did part of the scenic Valley of the Boyne Drive. First, we came across this tiny cottage, in the middle of nowhere, really. We thought it must have belonged to a leprechaun!

We also passed the ruins of Bective Abbey (also very atmospheric!) ....



and then found we were almost at the Hill of Tara, which the Celts believed was the sacred dwelling place of the Gods. It is also thought to be where kings were crowned and the festival of Samhain took place each year (the precursor to Halloween). We plan to go back later in the year when some of these events and festivities are reenacted.

The photo below shows the area that some believe to be the banquet hall which could house thousands of guests for feasts. Some also believe it was a sunken entrance way to Tara, leading to the royal enclosure. Another possibility is that it is an ancient burial site for the Kings of Tara.

We were fascinated to see a fairy tree at Tara. The Hawthorn tree is believed to be a fairy tree in Ireland. People leave gifts on the tree for the fairies in the hope that their wish will be granted. There were a lot of socks on this tree - we were not sure what the fairies would make of that!

This weekend we visited Phoenix Park, Dublin's answer to Central Park in NYC, and did a tour of the President's House. I'll post those photos in the next blog instalment.