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Royal Meath: County of Kings: Page 2There are a number of castles dating from more recent times in County Meath. Trim has the largest Anglo-Norman fortress in Ireland. (Did you know Trim was used for some scenes in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart?) Originally founded by Hugh de Lacy, it was rebuilt in the thirteenth century. The outer wall is five hundred yards long and is strengthened by ten circular towers. The town of Trim (Baile atha Truim) means town of the Elder-tree ford. Located on the Boyne, it is one of the oldest eccleastical centers in Ireland. Other prominent Trim ruins and sights include the thirteenth century St. Mary's Abbey, of which only the east wall now remains. St. Patrick's Church (Church of Ireland) is an early nineteenth-century construction, said to be built on the site of a church founded by St. Patrick. Dangan Castle, about three and one half miles south of Trim was the residence of the Wellesley family, of which Arthur, Duke of Wellington (1769 - 1852) was the most noted member. A monument in Emmet Street commemorates Wellsley. Bective Abbey, between Navan and Trim, is the burial place of Hugh de Lacy (1195) and is one of the earliest examples of a Cistercian foundation in Ireland. Its cloisters are well preserved. Most of the ruins, set in a tranquil field beside the Knightsbrook River, date from the fifteenth century.
Duleek, a pleasant village southwest of Drogheda contains the remains of St. Mary's Abbey, an Augustinian priory founded by Hugh de Lacy in 1182. Three miles south of the village is Athcarne Castle, dating from 1587. The bridge at the southeast end of the village is said the be the route of retreat of the Irish Jacobite army in 1690. Just four miles north at Donore is the River Boyne where William III defeated the exiled James II for the crown of England. The battle was fought on July 1st, according to the old style calendar in use at the time. That, of course, translates into July 12th in the modern calendar. James had his headquarters in the medieval church ruin on Donore Hill. William's forces outnumbered the Jacobite forces in numbers, experience and arms. They crossed the Boyne at several points, routing the Jacobites from Donore and, by the end of the day, back to Duleek.
Accommodations, tourist information, special places to visit, maps, and other links of interest continue on page three
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Suzanne Barrett's
Oldcastle is a small town set in a broad plain that extends from Loughcrew to the Cavan Hills. Noted for its Hag's Mountain (Sliabh na Caillighe), three miles east of the town, the three summits offer views onto the plain and make the area of of the more important archaeological sites in Ireland. A Bronze Age cemetery here includes about thirty chambered cairns spread over the peaks.
