Featured image of The History of Trim Castle

The History of Trim Castle

LocationTrim, County Meath, Ireland (Google Maps)
Open for VisitorsYes
Owned byThe Irish Government
Rooms AvailableYes (Weddings, Corporate Meets, Events, filming)

Established on the south bank of river Trim and spread over 30,000 m² in County Meath, Ireland the castle is significant antiquity. It is also known as the ultimate symbol of Norman glory and heritage.

History

The land of Meath was owned by the church and was granted in the year 1172 to Hugh de Lacy by King Henry II of England as one of the new administrative areas. This was the beginning of an era of antiquity as De Lacy built a huge ringwork castle on it facing river Boyne. Trim Castle is also referred to in the Norman poem as “The Song of Dermot and the Earl.”. After a while, De Lacy left the castle handing it over to Hugh Tyrrel, baron of Castleknock, one of his chief lieutenants. Unfortunately, Tyrrel had to flee as the castle was attacked by forces of the Gaelic High King of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair. Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair did not stay for long, and the castle was rebuilt by De Lacy in 1173. After the sad yet historical demise of De Lacy in 1186, his son Walter de Lacy succeeded as Lord of Meath and continued rebuilding and refurbishing the castle until 1224.

The castle’s development was in process during the 13th and 14th centuries. During this time, the castle switched a lot of hands. On De Lacy’s death in 1241, his granddaughter Mathilda, married to Lord of Vaucouleurs in Champagne, France, inherited the castle. Joan Mortimer, the daughter-in-law of Mathilda, inherited the title Baroness Geneville suo jure and the castle when Lord of Vaucouleurs died in 1314. At last, after a long line of possessions, the Irish Parliament met in Trim Castle seven times and decided to operate the castle. The castle was granted to the Wellesley family after the Irish Confederate Wars in the 1640s. At last, the castle was sold to Dunsany, who sold it to the state in 1993 and departed from the affairs.

Architecture

Trim Castle is the largest Cambro-Norman castle in Ireland. The castle is of cruciform shape, with twenty corners and a three-storey keep. The castle’s structure was basically defined out of the demands of strength, which turned out to be strong structures of great beauty. The castle, though it looks like a ruined one, it is an object of beauty and a sign of Ireland’s strength. By night, when the sky is up, the castle looks like a beautiful story of romance, while in the day, it is a formidable military bastion. The castle has no clash of contradicting architectural styles like the Victorian or baronial; instead, it was conceived as a Norman castle and remains the same even after 800 years.

Visit at the Trim Castle
visit at the Trim Castle..”, by iwona_kellie, is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Movie Features

Braveheart (1995)- A 2.5-hour-long film based on the tyranny of King Edward I of England, “Braveheart” has been popularly shot a few scenes at Trim Castle.

The Big Red One (1980)- Based on World War 1, the film has shot a few scenes at Trim Castle.

A History of Britain (2002)- A TV Series that did a comprehensive historical survey of the British Isles featured the Trim Castle in one of its episodes.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What was the purpose of Trim Castle?

The Trim Castle is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland. It was constructed by Hugh De Lacy and subsequently his son Walter in an attempt to curb the expansionist policies of Richard de Clare (Strongbow).

  • What happened at Trim Castle?

The Trim Castle has been through a lot. It was attacked by forces of the Gaelic High King of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair. The castle was also a part of the Irish Confederate Wars in the 1640s until it was sold to Dunsany, who sold it to the Irish state in 1993.


Have you visited this castle before? If yes, why not share some beautiful pictures with us!
You can email us your pictures of the castle at castrumtocastle@gmail.com. Please use the name of the castle in the subject line.

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Meet Saurabh Sharma, a tech pro with a master's from Latvia's Riga Technical University. He's great with computers, focusing on Cloud Computing and DevOps. But here's the cool part – Saurabh has traveled to places like Nordic, Baltic, and other parts of Europe. And guess what? He's into European history, monuments, castles, and museums. Whether he's coding or exploring, he's always curious, showing a love for different places and histories.

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