After our visit to Wicklow Mountains, we drove up to Trim Castle. I was curious to see the castle, which is in a state of ruin. The castle is also famous for being the location where some of the film Braveheart was shot in 1994. The castle was transformed into a set for the Mel Gibson film, and photographs can be seen here from this time. A lot of locals from Trim were also employed as extras. There's also a sign outside the north wall of the castle with some information and photographs of the set at the castle. I must say that I am not a fan of the film, but I found its role in the film interesting.
The castle can be toured, and there's a guided tour of the keep. Before we went to the castle, we walked down the main street in search of a place to eat lunch.
We popped into a small bakery and cake shop, and I had soup and a slice of carrot cake, which was nice.
Trim is a small and attractive Irish town, but we did not walk too far as we wanted to explore the castle.
We entered the castle through the gate, which is over the moat. This gatehouse was rebuilt in the 13th century. Guard accommodation was within this gatehouse, and a prision is below. There's also murder holes above. The original gatehouse was built in 1180, but there was a timber-framed one before.
To the left of the gatehouse upon entering is the solar and the great hall. The solar, also known as Magdalen Tower, was redeveloped as private apartments. It was built to defend the ford just below it.
Next is the river gate (or water gate), which is near the river. This area took boats from the river to bring supplies into the castle. A passage was cut through the rock to the door of the cellar of the Great Hall to take the boats.
The interior of the cellar is above, and the boats would be kept in the harbour. The views from the Great Hall looked over the abbey of St. Mary's, which is located across the river.
A couple of other towers, in states of ruin, are along the river.
We then walked around to the Barbican Gate. This gatehouse has a rare design as it is built as a cylinder tower. There was a system of overhead traps as well as systems for lifting bridges and gates.
The tower also was designed for archers to defend it. The walkways around can still be explored, but there's not much of them left.
The castle replaced a wooden fort and was built in 1175. The town of Trim built up around it. We explored the keep, but all visits to the castle keep are guided. We learned a lot about the keep and the castle and its history, saw very old grafitti, and were told ghost stories.
The castle is a fine example of a military stronghold.
Not much exists inside the middle of the keep now, so we had to navigate from one area to the other via wooden walkways. We could explore the chapel and the quarters of the owners on the sides.
Some of the castle was still well-maintained, and we had to climb down and up some narrow staircases, but this was minimal.
We took in excellent views over the castle's grounds. In the photograph below, the ruins in the distance are St. Mary's abbey.
Before we left, we had a glance at a book that was filled with photographs during the filming of Braveheart. The castle was transformed into a set for the film.
This was a nice castle to visit.
Have you ever been to Trim castle?
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