The rapid rate of development in Trim, Co Meath, threatens to destroy the medieval town's rich historical legacy. Even the view from the beautiful castle is under attack, writes Eileen Battersby
The debate over heritage versus development continues throughout the country. Few counties have had their heritage as compromised as Co Meath, however, despite commitments made there in county draft development plans. The current construction of a four-storey modern hotel and underground car park across the road from Trim's magnificent Anglo-Norman King John's Castle adds to the list of heritage conundrums. These include the threat to the hinterland of the Hill of Tara and the potential legacy of the Duleek incinerator.
Dramatically bisected by the River Boyne, Trim is the 14th Irish town to be mapped in the multi-disciplinary Irish Historic Towns atlas series, which is supported by the Royal Irish Academy and is part of a wider European initiative that has to date mapped close to 400 towns across Europe.
Mark Hennessy of Trinity College Dublin's department of geography is the author of the work, which consists of a range of maps and period plates as well as an authoritative 12,000 word essay spanning the history, geography and evolution of settlement. He has spent more than three years exploring, assessing, examining and plotting every inch of Trim, which was the county town of Meath until 1906.
For Hennessy, despite the pressures of commuter-belt housing, the town's medieval fabric remains alive. He prepares to lead our tour of geographers, historians and amateur enthusiasts on a street tour to launch the fascicle on Trim.
Whether native, resident or passer-by, it's obvious to all that Trim, strategically located on a great river, is dominated by its majestic castle, the largest and finest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland. Constructed in three phases over 50 years, it consists of a massive three-storeyed keep boasting a bewildering 20 sides. Parts of Braveheart were filmed here.
As a fortress, it is a statement of Anglo-Norman expansionist intent; as an example of Anglo-Norman castle-building and architectural design, it is without equal in Ireland and is among the finest in Europe.
It also demonstrates the superiority of good conservation rather than pastiche restoration. In addition to its historical legacy and symbolism, Trim Castle is a thing of beauty and occupies a magnificent site, on a slight rise, overlooking the south bank of the Boyne.
It is likely that the castle that today stands as a dignified, well-conserved ruin, was constructed on the site of an earlier, far more modest structure, a fortified house. Hugh de Lacy, the architect of Anglo-Norman Meath, had been granted a vast lordship by Henry II in 1172.
According to Hennessy's study, "a contemporary account of the building of the first castle states that Hugh de Lacy 'fortified a dwelling at Trim'. This leaves open the possibility that the castle was built on the site of an existing structure. A military garrison was installed in this earth and timber castle".
The native Irish quickly dealt with this. Hugh de Lacy returned to Meath in 1175 and began building a stone fortress, which would be expanded by a further two building phases. Today, 800 years later, it retains its imposing presence.
Yet if King John's castle appears to be the major focal element in Trim's story, it is important to be aware that Trim, the "town of the ford of the elder tree", has a distinguished ecclesiastical history, pre-dating the arrival of the Anglo-Normans by some 700 years.
FIRST MENTION OF Trim, according to Hennessy, appears "in the historical record in a remarkably detailed account of the foundation of the church there by St Lommáin 432 AD contained in the Additamenta of the Patrician texts in the Book of Armagh.
The foundation story reveals a number of key points about the character, origin and development of the early medieval settlement."
In the early medieval period, the town had a distinct ecclesiastical focus.
The religious community appears to have settled on the north side of the Boyne, while the secular component was based on the south bank. "Early medieval Trim," notes Hennessy, "thus has many similarities with Dublin in the same period."
Trim suffered repeated attacks during that period. And so, it was a weakened settlement that would eventually witness the arrival of the Anglo-Norman castle builders.
Holding a map of Trim dated circa 1836, Hennessy and his band begin our tour of the town. The starting point is the castle.
All is well until the party arrive out on the roof. The castle offers a magnificent view of the surrounding countryside along the course of the Boyne and beyond, as well as of the town beneath.
The view is compromised by the presence of the building site located as if at the foot of the castle. It is here that a modern four-storey hotel will stand, to be flanked in time by an apartment block. Still at the foundation stage, the hotel has already undermined the castle's scenic position.
The reality of what is about to happen to a heritage town that has for so long defended its historical legacy is greeted with despondent silence. The party makes its slow descent down the stone steps.
On leaving the castle, Hennessy deflects the conversation away from intrusive hotels and apartment blocks threatening national monuments, and points to the courthouse. Its elegant early-19th-century facade - including its beautiful windows - has been well restored. He leads the way up Market Street, the area which forms the secular part of the town.
As he writes in his essay, "little about the layout of de Lacy's town is known for certain. Initially, the street pattern of Trim seems complex and atypical in comparison with those of the majority of Anglo-Norman colonial towns in Ireland". Such towns usually have either simple linear street patterns, chequer plans, or layouts inherited from pre-existing Hiberno-Norse towns or Gaelic monastic centres. Trim's town plan emerges as a composite of a number of plan units.
We walk up along the spine-like Market Street, turning right to complete the length of Watergate Street, and pause on the new bridge to look downriver towards a beautiful 14th-century stone bridge. Towards Athboy Gate on the northern edge of the town, our guide stops and points to a large wasteland area spanning several acres.
Initially, its only remarkable feature is that it hasn't been built upon. But there is more to this field than a casual glance might suggest. The Dominican (or Black) Friary, founded in 1293, once stood here. Fragments of surface masonry defy the rampant grass that no doubt conceals far more.
This site would certainly reward geophysical investigation.
As for Trim's other friary - established slightly earlier by the Franciscans in about 1260 - according to Hennessy it may have been located on the site of the later courthouse at the eastern end of Market Street. "It is possible that it was built on land that was attached to the castle precinct."
With the Anglo-Norman colonisation of Co Meath, a highly productive agricultural region developed for which Trim served as market town. Meanwhile, attacks from the Gaelic Irish at Clonard resulted in the Anglo-Norman bishop of Meath, Simon de Rochford, relocating his diocesan centre to Newtown Trim, just downriver from the castle. Trim expanded during the 13th century, and throughout the 15th and 16th centuries it emerged as "a vital, if vulnerable, strongpoint in the English controlled Pale".
Long before this, in 1407, the town had been praised for "good work in resisting Irish enemies". A royal mint was established at the castle in 1463. For all its present-day grandeur, the castle's career as a residency was relatively brief. Trim's topographical history was always curtailed by its lack of a dominant ruling family.
HIGH AGAINST THE red evening sky stands the craggy silhouette of the Yellow Steeple of Mary's Abbey. Built after the church of St Mary was burnt down in 1368, it served asa watchtower for Irish rebels. The steeple was blown up by the Cromwellians as a warning against further subversion.
This fascinating building, the former domestic section of the original abbey, was partly adapted in 1415 as a fortified manor house by Sir John Talbot. Today it offers an intriguing mix of late medieval features, early-18th-century remodelling and early-19th-century Gothic flourishes. On the northern wall is a stone plaque depicting the Talbot coat of arms that includes two Talbots and a pair of dogs.
In 1718, Jonathan Swift together with Esther Johnson ("Stella") had arranged for Talbot's Castle to be used as a diocesan free school. Among the pupils who studied there is the great mathematician and astronomer, William Rowan Hamilton.
Hennessy's little group is generously invited in to the eye-catching building for an unexpected tour of the remarkable interior. The current owner, a local solicitor, has just moved in with his three young children.
He has enlisted a conservation architect to preserve the splendours of the past. The assembled historians and geographers express their collective relief that a very special aspect of Trim's rare medieval fabric appears to be in good hands.
Irish Historic Towns Atlas Fascicle No 14: Trim by Mark Hennessy, is published by the Royal Irish Academy, price €30