Trim Castle

On the south side of the Boyne River rises a magnificent stronghold, Trim Castle, the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland.

Construction of the massive three storied Keep, the central stronghold of the castle, was begun c.1176 on the site of an earlier wooden fortress. The Keep, called also donjon or great tower, is unique in its design, being of cruciform shape, with twenty corners.

The surviving curtain walls are predominantly of mid-13th-century origin on the Dublin and Town Side, while on the River side, are almost completely destroyed. Other building within the castle grounds, include a very unusual circular barbican gate in the curtain walls, serving as the Dublin gate, a square gate house on the town side, called the Trim Gate, the outline of a mid-13th-century great hall, and a mint.

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