Trim Castle, the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland,

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Posted to de Lacy Chronicles Facebook 22nd Sept

Trim Castle, the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland, held a strategic position at a ford on the River Boyne. A fort had been on the site since the fifth century. In 1172, following the arrival of the English King. Henry II granted Baron Hugh de Lacy Lord of Weobley and Ludlow the Kingdom of Meath, along with the custody of Dublin. To ensure Strongbow (Lord Richard de Clare) who was becoming too powerful and may try to set up a rival Anglo-Norman Kingdom in Ireland. Hugh de Lacy took possession of the site and built a vast ringwork defended by a double palisade and external ditch. Hugh de Lacy left the castle under the control of Hugh Tyrrel, baron of Castleknock but it was attacked and burnt in 1174 by the army of Ruairí O Conchúir, Hugh Tyrrel was forced to flee. Following the destruction, de Lacy started to rebuild the castle and replaced the earlier wooden buildings with a unique twenty-sided cruciform design tower with three-metre thick walls. Over the following decades, Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter constructed the curtain walls. 1220 completed most of the castle that is still visible today.