Monday, December 3, 2012

TRIM CASTLE - COUNTY MEATH, IRELAND

The Castle was used as a centre of Norman administration for the Liberty of Meath, one of the newly created administrative areas of Ireland, created by Henry II of England and granted to Hugh de Lacy. He took possession of it in 1172, and would originally have appeared to have chosen the sea port of Drogheda as his caput. However, in 1174, following the destruction of the original castle, the newly refurbished castle was chosen for this purpose.

The castle site was chosen because it is on raised ground, overlooking a fording point over the River Boyne, and although the site is about 25 miles from the Irish Sea, it was accessible in medieval times by boat up the River Boyne.

During the late Middle Ages, Trim Castle was the centre of administration for Meath and demarcated the outer boundary of The Pale. In the 16th and 17th centuries it had declined in importance, except as an important military site. After the Cromwellian wars, the castle grounds were granted to the Wellington family who held it until the time of Arthur Wellesley, who sold it. In following years it passed into the hands of the Plunkett family, who held it until the 1993, when the state bought the Castle and began conservation and archaeological works on it.

The Castle is noted for the part it played in the filming of the Mel Gibson directed film Braveheart.

Trim Castle is open to the public everyday from Easter Saturday to Halloween (October 31st) from 10am, with first tour at 10.30am, last entry at 5pm and last tour at 5.15pm. In winter it is open only on weekends and bank holidays.

In the early 2000s the Irish Environment Minister, Martin Cullen, ordered his officials not to oppose the erection of a controversial five-story hotel beside the castle. His actions were condemned by planners, officials and heritage bodies, many of whom had been critical of his government's treatment of other heritage sites such as Carrickmines Castle (which was bulldozed to allow the completion of a roadway) and Carton House, which had its house turned into a hotel and its eighteenth century grounds turned into two golf courses. The hotel, which is very close to Trim Castle, was completed in August 2006.

Malahide Castle

Malahide Castle by infomatique
Malahide Castle, a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Malahide Castle County Dublin (Ireland)

Malahide Castle, set on 250 acres of park land in the pretty seaside town of Malahide, was both a fortress and a private home for nearly eight hundred years. The Talbot family lived here from 1185 to 1973, when the last Lord Talbot died.

The house is furnished with beautiful period furniture together with an extensive collection of Irish portrait paintings, mainly from the National Gallery. The history of the Talbot family is recorded in the Great Hall, with portraits of generations of the family telling their own story of Ireland's stormy history. One of the more poignant legends concerns the morning of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, when fourteen members of the family breakfasted together in this room, never to return, as all were dead by nightfall.

DUBLIN CASTLE

DUBLIN CASTLE by infomatique
DUBLIN CASTLE, a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Dublin Castle is situated in the very heart of historic Dublin. In fact the city gets its name from the Dubh Linn or Black Pool (dubh = black), on the site of the present Castle Gardens and Coach House.

The Castle stands on the high ridge, the highest ground in the locality, at the junction of the River Liffey and its tributary the (now underground) Poddle, which formed a natural boundary on two sides. It is very probable that the original fortification on this easily defended strategic site was a Gaelic Ringfort, which guarded the harbour, the adjacent Dubhlinn Ecclesiastical Centre and the four long distant roads that converged nearby.

In the 930's, a Danish Viking Fortress stood on this site and part of the town defences is on view at the Undercroft, where the facing stone revetments offered protection against the River Poddle. Their settlement of Dyflinn (a corruption of Dubhlinn) quickly became the main Viking military base and trading centre of slaves and silver, in Ireland. The Norwegian and sometimes Danish rulers had control of the Irish Sea and forayed deep into the centre of Ireland, where monasteries, with their precious ornaments and vessels, were easy targets. Eventually their power was broken, when they and their allies were heavily defeated by an Irish army under the command of King Brian Boru, at the Battle of Clontarft, 1014.

Neither the Irish nor the Vikings could withstand the Norman invasion of 1169. The Vikings were ejected and the Normans became the next occupiers of Dublin. They strengthened and expanded the existing town walls. It is assumed that their first fortification was an earth and wooden, motte and bailey, on the site of present day Dublin Castle. There is archaeological evidence of a wooden and stone castle there in the 1170's.

In August 1204, King John of England commanded the erection of a (larger) strong castle, with strong walls and good ditches, for the defence of the city, administration of justice and safe custody of treasure. It was completed by 1230 and the Great Courtyard (Upper Castle Yard) of today corresponds closely with the fortification.

Swords Castle (Ireland)

Swords Castle (Ireland) by infomatique
Swords Castle (Ireland), a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Swords Castle (Ireland)

Swords Castle (Ireland) by infomatique
Swords Castle (Ireland), a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Swords Castle (Ireland)

Swords Castle (Ireland) by infomatique
Swords Castle (Ireland), a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Swords Castle (Ireland)

Swords Castle (Ireland) by infomatique
Swords Castle (Ireland), a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Swords Castle (Ireland)

Swords Castle (Ireland) by infomatique
Swords Castle (Ireland), a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Swords Castle (Ireland)

Swords Castle (Ireland) by infomatique
Swords Castle (Ireland), a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Swords Castle (Ireland)

Swords Castle (Ireland) by infomatique
Swords Castle (Ireland), a photo by infomatique on Flickr.

Swords Castle was built as the manorial residence of the Archbishops of Dublin around 1200 or a little later in Swords, just north of Dublin.

It was never strong in the military sense, but covers a large pentagonal walled area of nearly 1.5 acres (6,000 m²) with a tower on the north, probably the Constable's residence, and an impressive gateway complex on the south. The warder may have occupied the quarters to the left of the gate, while to the right was the janitor's room with the priest's room overhead. The adjoining chapel, built in the late thirteenth century, was probably used as the Archbishop's private oratory.

Other buildings, recorded for an inquisition in 1326, have now vanished, including the great hall on the east side of the enclosure. The Archbishop abandoned Swords once a new palace was built at Tallaght in 1324 - a move no doubt encouraged by damage sustained during Bruce's campaign of 1317. The stepped battlements suggest some form of occupancy during the fifteenth century, but by 1583, when briefly occupied by Dutch Protestants, it was described as "the quite spoiled old castle". It was used as a garden in the nineteenth century and sold after the Church of Ireland was disestablished.

The newly renovated castle was used as a film location for the production of TV series The Tudors in spring 2010.

More About Swords Castle