Trim Castle

I love the Middle Ages. And the Dark Ages. If it happened between 476 and 1600 AD, I’m probably interested. I also love the Vikings and the Normans. I’m not sure why I love a bunch of pillaging marauders, and a bunch of slightly more “civilized” pillaging marauders, but I do. When I went to France we toured Paris, Normandy, and a little bit of the Loire valley. I fell deeply in love with Normandy. It was wet and cold and sparsely populated and beautiful. Seeing the Bayeux Tapestry was one of the highlights of my life.

So I come to Dublin (with less knowledge about the history of Dublin and Ireland than I really ought to have had) and discover that Dublin was settled by Vikings in the 9th century. Joy of joys! There’s Viking stuff here! I’m still working on getting someone to go on a Viking Splash Tour with me, a phenomenon which is like the Duck Tours you see in Boston. I love when one of those boat/buses named Freya turns a corner and into view, and all the tourists wearing horned helmets roar at the passerby.

Besides Viking stuff, there’s a bunch of Norman stuff here. The Normans invaded in 1169, about one hundred years after they invaded England. (As a side note, the Vikings landed in Normandy, and became French in the span of about 100 years. The Normans then invade England. Once again, in the span of about 100 years, they became English. The Anglo-Normans then invade Ireland and shortly become “more Irish than the Irish themselves.” Also, if I have to hear that phrase one more time, I’ll puke.)

The main point I’m getting to is the field trip the SSP took this weekend. Locale number one was Trim Castle, a Norman stronghold dating back to about 1172 AD.

(Another note- I love castles. And not frou-frou baroque castles like Chenonceau or Chambord, although they are breathtakingly beautiful. I love medieval strongholds. When in French class we had to pick a chateau and give a presentation, I chose Haut-Andlau; an ugly, crumbling fortress in Alsace.)

Trim Castle is spectacular. It was built upon multiple times until it became taller than it is large (or so it seems.) The grounds are the greenest green. The view from the top of the castle is astounding. I got to stomp on the same earth and touch the same stones that people over 800 years ago stomped on and touched. The castle is 600 years older than the United States of America.

The ruins aren’t pretty but they are beautiful. I love history that I can touch and see and smell. I was in the same place that Henry II was once. That’s far better than reading about anyone in any book.




The interior of the castle. The floors of the second and third level have long since dissolved, so instead there are vertigo-inducing walkways. Oh, and windy spiral staircases! Super fun on the way up, but not so much on the way down. View from the roof