Geograph - photograph every grid square

The castle keep at Trim is bounded by the Boyne to the north, and marshland to the south with further protection provided by a ditch, a curtain wall, and moat. It is unquestionably the finest medieval castle in Ireland. In 1175 Hugh de Lacy's original wooden fortification here had been replaced with this most formidable of buildings, owing much to its unique cruciform shape, representing at that time the very pinnacle of achievement in experimental military architecture. Building continued with the ongoing addition of curtain walls and the enlargement of the keep by Walter de Lacy in 1196. He added new floors to the central block, with a new hall being built later at the third floor level. By 1200 the south curtain walls with their distinctive D shape towers had been completed. Further improvements and additions continued throughout the C13, and although castle buildings were often subsequently adapted to meet changing domestic and military needs, Trim Castle has remained unchanged since the height of Anglo-Norman power in Ireland. Parts of the 1995 film "Braveheart" were filmed here when the castle was cast in the role of the English fortified town of "York".

N8056 : Castles of Leinster: Trim, Meath (2)