Trim Castle on the Boyne River

The G and R families headed out to Trim Castle after our breakfast. We packed a bunch of sandwiches and snacks for later in the afternoon. Trim is located in County Meath on the Boyne River. It was about a 45 minute drive to Trim. We took two cars since there were 9 of us total. 

The 5 children all happy to see each other!

Walking through the main gate to Trim Castle

Trim Castle is the largest Norman castle in Ireland. It was used as a center of Norman administration for the Lordship of Meath. It was built in the 12th century by Hugh de Lacy. The castle passed through many people - the most famous was probably Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington). It was not until 1993 that the castle owner sold the land and buildings to the State. The castle was opened to the public in 2000.  

The castle is also famous for playing in 1994 Mel Gibson's Braveheart. The movie crew built wooden railings and platforms onto the existing stone of some of the more well preserved structures. They filmed different scenes at the castle, including the sacking of York (the part with the battering ram), the Prince's lover being thrown out of the tower window, and the famous torture and execution scene at the end of the movie. Now that I've been to this castle I need to watch the movie again!

The castle complex itself consists of a large central structure (Keep) and the surrounding walls, gates, and towers. The keep itself is very well preserved and well presented. Many of the buildings in the castle yard are no longer standing, but there are signs that give a visualization of the general layout. 

This was part of the Great Hall

K and N in front of the fallen tower and old moat

The Keep

We had about 30 minutes until our tour started of the Keep so we just walked around the grounds for awhile.

Famous Barbican Gate - the execution scene in Braveheart was filmed inside here

Entrance gate into the castle from inside the grounds

Underground Passage

Defensive Tower

We walked over the Boyne River to the other side. 

Coach A and K's first time to Ireland! 

T and T having a great time at the castle 

This was called the Yellow Steeple. It takes its name from the golden color of the stonework at sunset. It is a tall tower that was originally part of an Augustinian Abbey, St. Mary's. The land here was given to St. Patrick who is credited with founding the abbey. The abbey was a popular pilgrimage site until its dissolution under Henry VIII...you should know the rest of the story now! 

The Yellow Steeple

Interior of the Steeple

We next started our tour of the Keep which is the only way to get inside. 

The tour of the interior of the keep was great. Most of the original wood flooring is missing, and the central structure of the keep is now one large room looking up to the rafters. The keep has been made accessible with an extensive series of platforms and walkways, giving visitors a way to see its three floors. There is a series of scale models that depict the Keep at various stages of its development, beginning in the 1170's. The tour guide described in detail the many design quirks of the keep and its famous defensive flaws. 

The main keep is a square structure with 4 towers on its sides. After the towers were completed, they realized that all these corners were flawed. The main keep had 20 sides, so that meant they had to guard and defend all these sides. They installed short, steep stone ramps so it would be difficult for invaders to lean a ladder against the tower. Then they provided another violent and hilarious new defense method. The angle was calculated so that a rock dropped from the towers above would hit the ramps and bounce off at a right angle at anyone unfortunate to be on the ground at the time. 

Wooden walkways were added outward from the high towers of the keep to aid the guards in defense. The walkways were topped with animal skins, which would be soaked with water to resist fire in the event of an attack. As a backup plan, the support beam of these exterior walkways could be pulled out from inside the keep, dropping the entire wooden structure on the attackers below. 

You gotta laugh and wonder about everything that went into defense in those violent times. I would think most of them lived in such paranoia, spending every waking moment looking over their shoulder, wondering if an employee might betray them or if an army would come in at night. 

This was the chapel in the castle

This was where the priest would wash his hands and the communions vessels after mass

This window at the top of the castle is where the Prince
threw his lover out of the window in Braveheart.

The views from the top of the Keep were incredible

A statue of the Duke of Wellington the man that beat Napoleon at Waterloo...an Irish man from Trim. We could see this statue from the top of the Keep in the town. 

We climbed down the long, winding staircase to the ground floor. The going is a bit tough, as the staircases were built with uneven step heights and step width to slow down unfamiliar attackers. They also wind clockwise going up to the give the advantage to right handed defenders with the high positions. 

I love the Europeans and how they let you visit these structures. You are allowed to look around most areas unsupervised and without velvet ropes blocking off possibly interesting areas. The Keep requires a tour for safety and preservation reasons, but everything on the grounds is fair game. 

Cute little village of Trim

Braveheart poster outside of the Trim Castle

We all had an enjoyable afternoon in and around the castle grounds. The children had a great time climbing, being silly, and being all together. We then got back into the cars to drive back to Dublin...but then Joe saw more ruins so we pulled off the road further down the Boyne River.

The adventure continues with the R family...