Trim Castle
| Summary Trim castle is an Anglo-Norman castle, possibly the first stone castle in Ireland. It is located about 28 miles northwest of Dublin in County Meath, along the banks of the River Boyne. Trim is, in Tom McNeill’s words, “the finest and largest castle in Ireland” (McNeill 244), and it has a reputation as the king of Irish castles. |
Trim castle is an Anglo-Norman castle,
possibly the first stone castle in Ireland. It is located about 28 miles
northwest of Dublin in County Meath, along the banks of the River Boyne.
Trim is, in Tom McNeill’s words, “the finest and largest castle in Ireland”
(McNeill 244), and it has a reputation as the king of Irish
castles. Early Anglo-Norman castles were often built in prominent locations,
and their purpose was to display the great wealth and dominance of their owners.
Trim Castle is even mentioned in the heroic Norman poem “The Song of Dermot
and the Earl.” It first began as a ringwork castle, and the remains of
a large trench, bracing posts, and postholes of a wooden structure are evidence
of this. Historical records say that this original ringwork castle built
by Hugh de Lacy in 1173 was captured and burnt down that same year by Roderic
O’Connor (Ruadhri Ua Conchabair), a native Irishman threatened by its presence.
Hugh de Lacy was so powerful in his time that the King of England was afraid
that de Lacy would deny allegiance to him and declare himself the King of Ireland.
This shows the great power and intimidation that Trim Castle was meant to display,
especially over the native Irish people.
Construction
Reconstruction of Trim Castle
was undertaken by Hugh de Lacy in 1175. Hugh died in 1186 but his
son, Walter de Lacy continued construction and the great castle was completed
by 1204. The second stage of the castle’s construction took place
in the second half of the 13th century, by Geoffrey de Geneville.
He is thought to have added wooden towers, built the Great Hall, and improved
the North Tower, the fosse and drawbridge. In the late 13th century, Joanna
de Geneville married Roger Mortimer and thus castle was passed to the Mortimer
family. When the last of the Mortimers died in 1425, Trim was abandoned
until the early 15th century, when King Richard II of England allowed for
two of his wards to live there, one of them the future Henry V. Repairs
were made on the castle in the 1530s, and during the 15th century parliaments
were held in Trim seven times. It fell into decline in the 16th century
and was abandoned to Cromwell’s army in 1649. More recently, it was
used in the filming of the movie Braveheart.
Keep
Trim castle is located above
the banks of the River Boyne, and covers more than three acres. Its
main, large square keep, which is relatively isolated from the rest of
the structures, is twenty-five meters tall and has walls eleven feet thick.
This keep, also called a donjon, has four smaller square towers on each
of its sides (only three of which remain). The towers have thin walls
(which were not good defensively) and were added for either extra rooms
or simply for the sake of appearance. Inside the main keep there
are three levels. The first and second levels were split in half
by a central wall, while the third was left open and was probably used
as the lord’s chamber. The keep also contained a public hall, great
chambers, a chapel, and quarters for a chaplain, officials, and a small
garrison. It also contained cellars full of food so that the keep
could withstand a long siege. The keep was most likely surrounded
by a stone enclosure with stables and stores. Three defensive towers
were later built around this area. The one entrance is on the main
floor of the east tower, below the chapel. In the southwest and northeast
corners of the keep are winding staircases that lead to the three levels.
The thin walls of the towers and the weakly guarded east tower entrance
left the castle weakly defended. This weakness was recognized and
remedied late in the 13th century with the construction of a towered screen
wall in front of the entrance for added protection.
Outer Wall
The great outer curtain
wall, two-thirds of which still stand today, is 500 meters long and forms
a triangle-shape around the keep. It contains eight towers and two
main gatehouses. It is said to “provide the front and real strength
of the castle” (McNeill 24). The wall is studded
with towers, and it contains two levels of arrow loops (holes through which
weapons could be fired). The wall has two large gate towers: the
west gate facing the town is also known as Trim Gate, and serves as the
main entrance. Chambers connecting to this gate contained accommodations
for guards and a prison. The south gate facing the countryside and
Dublin is known as the Barbican gate or Dublin gate (so named because it
connects to a road that leads to Dublin). The gatehouses were each
protected by a barbican, drawbridge, portcullis (a type of wooden gate),
and murder hole. The best remaining part of the wall stretches from
the River Boyne through Dublin Gate to Castle Street. On the edge
along the riverfront, the wall contains rectangular towers, but along the
south wall to the part facing Dublin, the towers are D-shaped. This
had led some to conclude that these towers were constructed at different
times. Along the riverfront stands the River Gate, which was built
to allow for deliveries from boats, which could be moored in the harbor
this created. This gate connected to the Great hall and to the Solar.
The Solar, also called Magdalen tower, is the northern-most tower on the
curtain wall and also the strongest. It defended the ford on the
Boyne River. It had four floors, latrines, was heated, and contained
lodgings.
Other Structures
It is thought that the Great
Hall of this castle once stood near the north tower, and they may have
been connected. The Hall had a good view of the harbor and of the
Abbey of St. Mary’s across the river, of which the Yellow Tower still survives
today. In the north corner of the enclosed area, next to the Great
Hall, there is a church, and facing the river is the Royal Mint, which
produced Patricks and Irelands, types of coins, up until sometime in the
15th century. Many other structures would have been found within
the curtain walls, including three limestone kilns, 14th century houses,
a well, and even public toilets.
Excavations
Excavations were done here from 1971
to 1974 under the management of David Sweetman. They covered most of the
area directly surrounding the keep, and the area along the northeast wall.
This excavation revealed the remains of ten headless men. These were probably
criminals, there as victims of King Edward’s 1465 order for any thieves or future
thieves to be beheaded and their heads mounted on spikes outside as a public
warning. Excavations (as well as renovations) at Trim Castle were completed
recently. The remains of a stone plinth, or wall, closely surrounding
the keep were found, as were the remains of additional buildings, and evidence
of a ditch dug around the keep. Iron arrowheads, silver coins, an iron
axe, pottery from Bristol, and French wine jugs, all from the 13th century,
were also found there, mainly in the ditch around the keep. Excavations
also revealed a slipway and storage facilities on the east end of the Great
Hall, along the edge of the River Boyne. This is most likely because Trim
castle was used as a fortress along the river which, along with a few other
structures that he owned, allowed de Lacy to control the port town. Along
with these excavations, Tom McNeill has more recently studied the basic outline
of the castle’s structure, and its surrounding components. Trim Castle
is now managed and cared for by Duchas, the Heritage Service of Ireland.
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Entrance to Trim Castle.
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View of Trim Castle from the East.
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A picture of Trim Castle during the making of the movie Braveheart.
Reeves-Smith, Terrence. 1995. Irish Castles. Belfast: The Appletree Press Ltd.
De Breffny, Brian. 1977. Castles of Ireland. London: Thames and Hudson.
Salter, Mike. 1993. Castles and Stronghouses of Ireland. Worc.: Folly Publications.
Sweetman, David. 1999. The Medieval Castles of Ireland. Cork: The Collins Press.
McNeill, Tom. 1997. Castles in Ireland. London: Routledge.
for more information about the Normans, go here: http://www.laceyandlacey.com/normans/
for more information about Irish castles, go here: http://www.irelandforvisitors.com/articles/med_irish_castles1.htm
for more information about Trim Castle, visit one of these sites:
http://www.historic.irishcastles.com/trim.htm
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/HistoricSites/East/TrimCastleMeath/