Emmet Street, Trim

Area

105 m²

Buildings

3 buildings touch it, 526 m² on the ground

Zoning

M2 B1 - Commercial Town or Village Centre (Meath County Development Plan 2021-2027) The objective

Townland

Townparks South

Planning applications on this parcel

No planning application touches this parcel in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches this parcel.

Recorded monuments around it

This parcel is in the zone of notification of 109 recorded monuments.

• ME036-048 Historic town
  Description

  Situated on both banks of a NW-SE run of the River Boyne. The town was built around slight hills on the NE bank at St Patrick’s church (ME036-048012-) and at the castle (ME036-048004-) on the SW bank. In 1172 King Henry II granted Meath to Hugh de Lacy ‘as Murrough O’Maelaghlin best held it’ (Otway-Ruthven 1968, 52-3). This king of Meath died in 1153 before the province was dismembered, so in theory de Lacy’s fief, if he could secure it, was as extensive as the modern counties of Meath, Westmeath and Longford with a large part of Offaly. Hugh determined that Trim would be the caput or centre of this vast estate and commenced planning a suitable headquarters for it in a castle that would be defensively strong as well as visually impressive and capable of administering a wide area. A town would naturally grow up around such an important centre, but there had probably been settlement here for some time. Its Gaelic name Áth Thruim – the ford of the alder trees – suggests that it had long been an important, though possibly overgrown, fording point of the river. This may have been where the medieval bridge (ME036-048001-) and Market Street were later constructed on low-lying ground where the river might have been quite broad. A hoard of Middle Bronze Age axes and other prehistoric artefacts from the town testify to prehistoric traffic at least (Potterton 2005, 29-34). According to an eight century source Lommán, a disciple and nephew of St Patrick, was welcomed at Trim by Fedelemid, the son of King Laoighre, and Fedelemid’s wife who was also British. Fedelemid gave his own dwelling to Lommán for a church in perpetuity, which may be why the land on which the town and castle were built was always regarded as Church land. This was possibly where St Patrick’s medieval parish church (ME036-048012-) was established later, but archaeological confirmation of an early date is not yet established. Fedelemid moved to Clúain Lagen, thought to be Clonylon, on the other side of the river (ibid. 34-40). The monastery was certainly in place by the eight century, and Trim was burnt in 784 (AU), 1128 (AU), 1143 (AFM) and 1155 (AFM). The Augustinian abbey of St. Mary’s (ME036-048021-) could have been established by c. 1140 on the NE bank of the river, perhaps on the site of the St Loman’s foundation. The earliest recorded charter (MacNiochaill 1964, 74-5) was granted by Walter de Lacy c. 1194 (Hennessy 2004, 2) but the town was undoubtedly already under way by then. While the castle had to be recaptured by Walter from his half-brother William after a seven week siege in 1224 (ME036-048075-), the town seems to have presented no resistance and was probably unfortified. The earliest murage grant in 1290 was extended in 1308 and again in 1316 (Bradley and King 1985, 163), so the town walls (ME036-048005-) might have been in place by 1315, as Edward Bruce refrained from attacking either the town or castle during his Irish campaign (1315-18). Additional murage in 1393, which also diverted the tolls of Athboy, Navan, and Skreen to Trim, testifies not only to the need to refurbish the walls but also to the status of Trim as the centre of the Liberty or lordship that it retained until 1906 when the county council offices moved to the more central town of Navan (Hennessy 2004, 7). In 1422 Dunshaughlin, Dunboyne, Greenoge and Slane replaced the original three towns in the supporting financial role. The town walls and the paving of the streets preoccupied the burgesses throughout the fifteenth century, and the town was one of the principal bulwarks in the defences of the Pale. In 1584 its status as a walled town was used unsuccessfully to promote Trim as the site of Ireland’s first university. Although it is depicted as a walled town on the Down Survey maps (1658) the walls were known to be in a poor condition, and the last recorded repairs were conducted in 1689. Thereafter they were neglected and removed at some crucial points but considerable stretches remain. The Civil Survey (1654) does not provide much detail and does not mention the walls but it lists three castles, eight houses (probably of stone), three mills, and 74 tenements owned by 16 named individuals (Simington 1940, 249-50). The town continued to be administered in an increasingly ineffectual manner by the Corporation until they were replaced by town commissioners in 1840 (Hennessy 2004, 5-7), but it is not certain if there was a town hall or tholsel (ME036-048060-). The composition of the Corporation changed radically after the Suppression of the monasteries in 1540 when so many New English and non-resident property owners came to dominate that body to the exclusion of the Old English and Roman Catholic natives. The wall encloses a rectangular area of about 20 hectares (c. 50 acres) that is replete with narrow house-plots fronting onto the six principal streets, as recorded on the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map. The principal street is High St. on the NE bank running into Bridge St. and Castle St. with Market St. radiating off it to the SW south of the river while Mill St., Church Lane and Haggard St. are offset to the NW north of the river. Watergate and Loman Streets close off the W ends of these thoroughfares. It is an unusual lay-out for a medieval Irish town (Bradley 1985, 430), but would probably have been in place by the end of the thirteenth century. This century was a period of rapid development which saw both the Franciscans (ME036-048025-) and Dominicans (ME036-048022-) establish friaries on the outskirts of the town, and a church dedicated to Mary Magdalen (ME036-027---) was in place SE of the castle before 1335. In contrast, the fourteenth century was a period of economic decline when the ravages of the Bruce campaign were followed by severe flooding of the town in 1330, the first outbreak of the Black Death (1347-9), and the burning of St. Mary’s in 1364. Conditions improved in the fifteenth century when aristocratic houses such as the Nangle (ME036-048003-) and Talbot (ME036-048002-) fortified houses were built at this administrative centre. A suburb developed outside the Dublin Gate in the thirteenth century, and it is detectable in the burgage plots depicted on the 1836 edition of the OS map. The suburb was not walled but is confirmed by the excavation of two medieval houses (ME036-048032-). The town wall had a circuit of almost 2km with five gateways, but only the ‘Sheep Gate’ (ME036-048011-) between the Augustinian abbey and the Porch Field (ME036-048054-) survives. Archaeological excavations have proved fruitful in many parts of the medieval urban area. Medieval houses (ME036-048035-; ME036-048049-) have been found on both sides of High Street, and the remains of houses and house plots (ME036-048028- to ME036-048031-) have been found close to the river just W of Talbot’s Castle. On the S side between Emmet St., Market St. and Castle St. more than one house has been excavated (ME036-048043-; ME036-048056-) within the town walls, and earlier surface levels of Market St. (ME036-048038-) have been identified. Between Market St., Watergate St. and the river testing on two development sites identified medieval deposits and a N-S medieval masonry wall over layers of riverine silt (Duffy 2007, 2008). A hearth and what might be evidence of industrial activity was found off the W side of Loman’s St. (Coughlan 2007), while three ditches and two masonry features were identified immediately E of St Patrick’s church (Kiernan 2006). There can be no doubt that the town has extensive archaeological deposits. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 12 July, 2019

• ME036-048001 Bridge
  Description

  Straddling the River Boyne, this bridge is largely of medieval date with some minor 18th century alterations and pointing that is considered to be of 19th century date. The winter of 1330 witnessed a series of violent storms which resulted in a great flood, especially along the River Boyne. Almost all of the bridges, both of wood and stone, were carried away. It has long been held that a pre-existing bridge (of whatever form) on this site was swept away and subsequently replaced by the present structure. The following description of the bridge is derived from Potterton (2005, 195-6): ‘This bridge, which is founded on solid bedrock, consists of four pointed segmental masonry arches, each spanning c. 4.9m with a rise of c. 2.05m, the same ratio as at Babes Bridge (near Donaghmore, Co. Meath). The piers are 2.45m thick and the bridge is 6.4m wide with solid parapets finished with copingstones. There is no evidence whatsoever for post-medieval widening in any arch or pier. During the 1970s the Office of Public Works carried out a programme of arterial drainage (the Boyne Drainage Scheme) which involved lowering the bed of the river at this point by c.1.25m. The piers were left intact, perched on solid rock but, as with many other bridges affected by the scouring action of rivers, the footings of each pier were surrounded with a reinforced concrete skirt or 'pontoon', incorporating pointed cutwaters to assist the flow of floodwaters under the bridge. The six original triangular cutwaters survive, three on each side of the bridge. The one closest to the south bank on the downstream side extends up to the level of the pavement and may once have functioned as a pedestrian refuge, as at the bridge of Newtown Trim. The remaining five cutwaters reach a level just above the arch springings and continue in the form of long, tapering, semi-pyramidal, masonry cappings, 1.7m high, reaching to the level of the soffit of the keystone. This type of capping is found on many old bridges in Meath and sometimes elsewhere. The underside or intrados of the bridge arches are pointed segmental, of identical shape to the surviving arch of Babes Bridge. The arch rings are formed of roughly trimmed, rectangular stones varying in thickness from 7.5 to 15.5cm, and the keystones are no different from the ring stones. A second ring is faintly visible on all arches except the downstream arch on the south side. It is evident that this arch was rebuilt at some stage, and not very well, for it is still distorted and rounded at the keystone in a manner suggestive of the partial collapse of the shuttering. The springings are obscured by the cutwaters that are built into the piers up to that level, indicating that this was all constructed as a unit. The spandrel masonry is roughly-coursed random rubble. The stonework in the sheeting of the arches is also good. The ribbon pointing is probably of nineteenth-century date, and the copingstones on the parapets are neatly shaped 46 x 38 x 10cm limestone flags.’ Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 15 October 2015

• ME036-048002 House - medieval
  Description

  Situated on a bluff on the N bank of a NW-SE section of the River Boyne as it flows through Trim town, with the river c. 50m to the SW. The house was reputedly built in the early fifteenth century by Sir John Talbot, who was the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland almost continuously 1414-19, and in 1425, and again in 1446-7. He also played a valiant role in the Hundred Years War, which earned him a walk-on part in Shakespeare’s King Henry VI (part 1) as the first Earl of Shrewsbury, which Talbot became in 1442. The house is a ten-bay, two storey over basement structure of the fifteenth century. The house is still occupied and not available for inspection, but a description is available (Potterton 2005, 204-08). The original windows are two-light cinquefoils, but most of the windows towards the E end of the building are of a pointed neo-gothic type, and an attic was added to the W end of the building. A tower projecting N at the W end could have served to house the entrance and services such as stairs and garderobes. Although there is no direct documentary connection with the house Sir John and his brothers, Thomas who summoned a parliament to Trim in 1418, and Richard, archbishop of Dublin, did resort to Trim quite frequently, and Sir John also summoned a Parliament to Trim in 1446. An armorial plaque on the exterior of the N wall displays the arms of Talbot quartered with those of Furnival, John’s first wife who died in 1422, and this clinches the connection. The crest is supported by two talbots, a type of hunting dog now extinct and associated heraldically with the Talbot family. The house is sometimes regarded as part of the buildings of St Mary’s abbey, which is unlikely despite the proximity. However, it may have become a diocesan school, which is attested in Trim in 1567 and continued into the eighteenth century. The school counts Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852) of Dangan Castle (ME042-009----), the future victor of Waterloo (1815) and the first Duke of Wellington, amongst its alumni. Another graduate is Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1805-65), the mathematician and scientist whose work on optics and mechanics is still relevant today (Boylan 1978, 134; Ó Cairbre 2000; McCormack 2014). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 8 July 2019

• ME036-048003 House - medieval
  Description

  Located on a shelf of high ground within Trim town with a NW-SE section of the River Boyne c. 80m to the S. Known as Nangle's Castle, this structure is immediately N of the N wall of St Mary's abbey (ME036-048021-) at its W end. It is described as Nangle’s Castle on the 1836 and 1912 editions of the OS 6-inch maps, but might have no connection with the Nangle family, who were part of the Norman settlement of Meath from the beginning. Hugh de Lacy granted the barony of Morgallion to Gilbert de Nangle, according to the ‘Song of Dermot and the Earl (Ll 3142-3) (Orpen 1892, 229). Around 1400 they styled themselves Barons of Navan, and the name appears on lists as Keepers of the Peace, or judges (Potterton 2005, 377-80). This is a rectangular building (ext. dims 17.1m E-W; 7m N-S; int. dims c. 12m E-W; c. 5.5m N-S) but only the W and E walls survive partially to the first floor level (ibid. 208-10). The ground floor is featureless and there was no vaulting at this level. The first floor has the remains of a garderobe at the NE angle and a corbelled overhanging chamber at the SE angle, partly supported by the wall of a building to the E. A badly eroded stone head is protruding from the SW angle of the building. The possibility that this could be the remains of a building associated with the Augustinian Priory complex (ME036-048021-) should not be discounted. (Bradley and King 1985, 157-8) Archaeological testing has produced copious evidence of medieval settlement in the vicinity. House remains have been found in excavation on the riverside c. 40m to the SW (ME036-048030-) and c. 65m to the N (ME036-048035-). Archaeological deposits and pits were recorded c. 50m to the NW (Duffy 2009), and medieval and post-medieval structures (ME036-048035-) on High Street were c. 65m to the N. In 2008 a boundary wall just 60m to the NE and c. 30m N of the Yellow Steeple was removed without permission and the ground to the N in two burgage plots was lowered (D 0.7m at N to 1.3m at SE), exposing the soil around the new edges. Archaeological testing (C387, E004071) identified a foundation trench for the removed boundary wall, providing a nineteenth century date for the wall itself. Three pits filled with loose soil and animal bones were recorded in the E profile as well as a possible ditch (Wth of top c. 6m). The bases of some pits were recorded in the central area but no dating evidence was recovered from them. The ditch seen in the E section could not be confirmed crossing the central area, and the boundary between the two plots did not survive. The base of three trenches (Wth c. 3m; D 0.1m) and a section of a N-S ditch (Wth 2m) were also encountered but no dating evidence for any of these features was forthcoming. (Meenan 2010, 2013) This is a National Monument in state ownership, No. 100025. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of revision: 18 July 2018 Amended: 8 July 2019

• ME036-048004 Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle
  Description

  Situated on a hillock on the SW bank of a NW-SE run of the River Boyne and probably at the limit of that river’s navigation. Like the whole town of Trim the castle was on land that seems to have always been Church land (Duffy 2011, 8-9). In 1172 Henry II granted Meath to Hugh de Lacy ‘as Murrough O’Maelaghlin best held it’ (Otway-Ruthven 1967, 52-3). This king of Meath died in 1153 before the province was dismembered, so in theory de Lacy’s fief, if he could secure it by settling suitable territories with his liegemen, was as extensive as the modern counties of Meath, Westmeath, Longford, and a large part of NW Offaly. Hugh decided that Trim would be the caput or centre of this vast estate and commenced planning a suitable headquarters for it in a castle that would be defensively strong as well as visually impressive and capable of administering a wide area. Because one of the first accounts of the castle in the 1830s by Richard Butler (1861, 25) suggests that the castle was built in 1220 this date has been followed by some later writers. However, excavation (95E0077) by Hayden (2011), together with historical research (Duffy 2011), the conservation (Cummins 2011) and recording (O’Brien and Fenlon 2002) of the masonry structures, and a re-interpretation of an earlier excavation (E00094) by Sweetman (1978), elucidates its entire structural history. THE KEEP The first defensive structure was the ringwork castle (ME036-048033-) but this can only have lasted until c. 1175 as de Lacy commenced construction of the masonry keep around that time (Duffy 2011, 9-10), and this is confirmed by dendrochronological dates from the keep itself (Condit 1996). The keep has the unique design of a large rectangular central block (ext. dims c. 20m x c. 20m) which has large square towers (ext. dims c. 8m x c. 7m) attached at the centre of each wall. It rises to four stories including the ground floor or basement level. The first phase consisted of the ground floor (Basement) and Level 1 of the keep, the walls of which rose up to the height of Level 2, and the same levels of the attached towers. In the keep the scars of the double roof over Level 1 can be seen rising through Level 2 in the internal faces of the N and S walls, and the scars of the lean-to roofs of the attached towers can also be seen (McNeill 1990, 314-6). The roof was originally supported by a central pillar, and the springing of a stone arch survives in the E wall at Level 1. The basement levels in all the towers belong to this phase, and the foundation trenches of the W and S towers describe semi-circles against the keep (Hayden 2011, 117-20), indicating that it may have been laid out on the medieval ‘cana’, a measurement of 2.2m and another of 0.7m (ibid. 106). It is clear from deposits excavated from the towers that occupation continued into the late fifteenth century (ibid. 116-7, 119, 269). There is no well within the castle but rainwater was directed from the roof to the N tower where it could have been collected in barrels over the kitchen, and the exit points from a double row of holes in the N face of the keep can be seen as the N tower does not survive (ibid. 107-110; O’Brien and Fenlon 2002, 36-40). The floor of the keep at Level 1 was supported on wide offsets, but while there may have been a trapdoor to its basement level (max. potential H 4.7m) it had no natural light and would have been used for little other than storage (Hayden 2011, 120-4). Externally, the entrance doorway in the N wall of the E tower at Level 1 was reached by a wooden stairs, the foot of which was protected by a small masonry forework. Its N wall, with the abutment of a bridge across the deepened fosse of the ring-work was barely evident (ibid. 126-31). Limekilns were required for all this building, and evidence of at least seven were recovered in excavation, although most of these were post-medieval in date. A large kiln that was built into the fosse of the ringwork at NW (ME036-048081-) survived almost complete and would have provided most of the mortar for the keep. The N part of the curtain wall with the Trim Gate and the rectangular towers on the NE circuit (ME036-048078-) could be coeval with this phase. The square keep, with a square tower attached to the centre of each wall, is an almost unique, even experimental, design whose many facets could provide a degree of enfilading fire but also presented numerous angles that might be undermined. The wooden hoardings that oversailed the walls were accessed from Level 1 and were supported on projecting beams, the putlogs of which are still visible. It was a complex design that was not repeated anywhere else in Ireland. The insertion of a N-S supporting wall to Level 2, and the insertion of the Level 2 floor into the main keep constitute a second phase conducted in the 1190s by Hugh’s son Walter. Window openings had to be broken through the keep’s N and S walls (T c. 3m), and cap-houses were added at the NW and SE angles to supplement those already over the newel or spiral stairs at the other angles (O’Brien and Fenlon 2002, 40-1). The facing of a plinth or talus was added to all the external wall faces, probably as part of the second phase, and a two-storey garderobe or latrine tower was constructed just S of the W tower, only the scars of which remain. A third phase c. 1201-07 saw the addition of Level 3 to the keep, necessitating the raising of its walls and cap-houses and the raising of the projecting towers to the same height for the first time, but the crenulations do not survive. Originally, the third level of the keep was a large open space acting as a great hall but a N-S dividing wall and masonry arches were added to support the twin roofs probably before 1300 (ibid. 44-6). This wall and the arches were sketched early in the nineteenth century but both collapsed in 1820 (Butler 1861, 37). With the addition of the N-S internal wall at all levels, the eastern portion became the public part of the keep while the W, with a large fireplace at Level 1, was the preserve of the lord and his family. From the lobby inside the entrance in the E tower a passage that had two doorways led to the hall. The chapel above the lobby has an inserted aumbry and piscine beside what was a twin-light window displaced to the N in the E wall. There is an inserted sedelia or seat in the N wall, and the priest’s room is above the chapel at Level 3. This tower, and the kitchen, groin-vaulted cellar and cisterns in the N tower are accessed from a newel stairs at the NE angle of the keep, while its companion at the SW angle accessed storerooms in the S tower and the lord’s chamber at Level 2 in the W tower. This room has an inserted twin-light ogee-headed W window, a fireplace inserted in the N wall and access to the garderobe tower. Like all the projecting towers it originally had a lean-to roof which was replaced by a wooden cruck-frame roof, the supporting corbels of which are still present (O’Brien and Fenlon 2002, 43). Above it was probably the lord’s bed-chamber with an inserted two-light rectangular window in the W wall. Both newel stairs accessed the battlements and the great hall at Level 3, which probably did not function long as it would have been replaced by the new Great Hall (ME036-048079-) inside the N angle of the castle ward. LATER HISTORY OF THE CASTLE, MANOR AND LIBERTY OF TRIM The castle was finished by 1224 when it had to be recaptured by the justiciar, William Marshall the younger, from William, a younger half-brother of Walter de Lacy, after a seven week siege (CDI 1203; ME036-048075-). Walter’s sons having pre-deceased him, Hugh’s original lordship was divided between Walter’s granddaughters Matilda and Margaret in 1244. However, Trim castle remained in the King’s hands until 1254 when it was returned to Matilda’s husband, Geoffrey de Geneville, with the liberty of Trim. The liberty was co-extensive with the

• ME036-048005 Town defences
  Description

  The earliest surviving murage grant for Trim in 1290 was renewed in 1308 and 1316 (Bradley and King 1985, 163), so the town walls might have been in place by 1315, as Edward Bruce refrained from attacking either the town or castle during his Irish campaign (1315-18). Additional murage in 1393, which also diverted the tolls of Athboy, Navan, and Skreen to Trim, testifies not only to the need to refurbish the walls but also to the status of Trim as the centre of the liberty that it retained until 1906 when the county council offices moved to the more central town of Navan (Hennessy 2004, 7). In 1422 Dunshaughlin, Dunboyne, Greenoge and Slane replaced the original tree towns in the supporting financial role. The town walls and the paving of the streets preoccupied the burgesses throughout the fifteenth century and in 1584 the quality of its walls was cited unsuccessfully to promote Trim as the site of Ireland’s first university. Although it is depicted as a walled town on the Down Survey maps (1658) the walls were known to be in a poor condition at that time, and the last recorded repairs were conducted in 1689. Thereafter they were neglected and even removed at some points, particularly where they hindered traffic, but considerable stretches remain. The town wall had a circuit of almost 2km with five gateways, but only the ‘Sheep Gate’ (ME036-048011-) between the Augustinian abbey and the Porch Field (ME036-048054-), which it owned as demesne land in 1540 (White 1943, 303), survives. At least three mural towers can be identified from maps but there may have been more. The course of the wall can be traced on maps dating from 1770 onwards but the most detailed record is provided by the unpublished 5-feet to 1 mile map prepared for the 1836 edition of the OS 6-inch map. The castle is the natural focus of the defences at the SE corner of the town, and from its SW angle the wall ran W to the Dublin Gate and beyond (L c. 275m) to the point where the Luppard stream is culverted. A section still can be inspected in a car-park off the modern street called Finnegan’s Way, and it had a wide fosse (ME036-048042-) outside it at this point. From the SW angle it proceeded N (L c. 225m) to where a square tower survives at the crest of the slope down to the river. In this section the wall was revealed (ME036-048044-) at the core of an earthen bank. Archaeological testing (E004250) by D. Fallon outside the line of the wall and c. 17m S of the tower identified a cut for the outer edge of the town ditch (Wth 6.2-6.7m) (excavations.ie 2010:0543). Just N of the tower it turns NE to the site of the Watergate that survived long enough to be photographed in 1889 (Potterton 2005, Pls 5.8, 5.9), and some boundaries (ME036-048034-) have been identified in excavation outside the line of the wall here. The mill that was on the N bank of the river across from the Watergate could be on the site of one of the three mills of the Civil Survey (1658). The town wall ran N from the mill and might still be incorporated in the filed boundaries behind properties that front onto the W side of Loman’s Street. North of St Patrick’s church its line was destroyed by the glebe associated with that church (Coughlin 2007) but it extended to the site of Athboy Gate, which is at a complicated road junction, where a SW-NE wall (T 1m) with the footing of a curving structure extending NW from it into the terminal of a NW-SE ditch (Wth 4.6m; D 1.5m) were uncovered (Seaver 2008, 12-16; 2009). This fragment is the only possible remnant of the town wall in this sector recorded through excavation, but more probably lies buried. The ditch (Wth 4.6m; D 1.6m), which was filled with organic layers and sealed with what is probably a levelled bank, could have bordered the road to Athboy. Potterton (2005, 180-1) suggests that the original town wall may have turned E just N of St Patrick’s church and that the wall running E from Athboy Gate was a later wall enclosing a suburb, but the location of the Dominican friary (ME036-048022-) intimates that a recognised boundary, if not a wall, was already present on this line at the foundation of the friary in 1263. On the E side of the town opposite the castle a long stretch of surviving wall (L c. 250m) extends from the Sheep Gate (ME036-048011-) almost at the riverside northwards to the site of the Navan Gate. Excavation (E002398) here did not uncover the gateway, but medieval deposits, two pits, a ditch and a small wall were recorded (Shine 2007; Seaver and Shine 2010). From here its line is known as it continues N to the open space around the Dominican friary where it turned west, running S of the friary to the site of Athboy Gate, although none of it survives visibly. Where it survives the wall (Wth c. 0.9m-1.2m; H up to 3m) is constructed of well coursed limestone blocks with a rubble core, and the outer face usually has a stronger finish than the inner. The wall, or certain parts of it, had an outer fosse (ME036-048042-) that can be revealed through excavation as between the Dublin Gate and the castle. A stream, known as the Water of Luppard (Leppar?) still runs in a culverted form outside the Dublin Gate and fed into the fosse outside the S section of the castle’s curtain wall. The only surviving gate, the Sheep Gate, is a rectangular block (dims N-S; 3.6m E-W) that has an entrance passage with a round arch at either end. A vaulted passage leads S from the entrance passage to the Porch Field, and a doorway on the N side of the entrance passage leads to a newel or spiral stairs to an upper storey. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 10 July 2019

• ME036-048011 Gateway
  Description

  Situated on a SW-facing slope on the NE bank of the River Boyne, which is c. 40m distant. The town wall of Trim had a circuit of almost 2km with five gateways, but only this gate known as ‘Sheep Gate’ between the Augustinian abbey and the Porch Field, which the abbey owned in 1540 (White 1943, 303), survives. This is a rectangular masonry block (dims 8.45m NNE-SSW; 2.8-3.5m WNW-ESE; H c. 3m) with an entrance passage towards its N end. There are round arches over the inner (W: Wth 3.23m; H 3.8m) and outer (E: Wth 2.7m; H 3.3m) facades of the entrance passage, with draw-bar sockets at ground level inside the E arch only. The N wall of the entrance passage has a blocked doorway leading to a newel stairs to an upper level, while a short segmental arched passage on the S side leads to a now blocked doorway in the S wall giving access from the Porch field to the town when the main gate was closed. Archaeological monitoring (E003644) of new paths in the vicinity during 2007 produced no related material (Seaver 2010). This is a National Monument in state ownership, No. 469. See the attached view from SE Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 10 July 2019

• ME036-048012 Church
  Description

  Situated at the crest of a S-facing slope with a WNW-ESE section of the River Boyne c. 250m to the S. According to Tíreachán in the 7th century followed by the later Tripartite Life of St Patrick, St Lomán, a disciple of Patrick and a Briton, was welcomed at Ath Truim – the ford of the ridge - by Fedhlim, son of Laoghaire, who granted him the north side of the river where Patrick established a church (Cogan 1862-70, 46-7; Potterton 2005, 34-52). Although the foundation of the church is recorded in the annals under 432 (AFM), the names of abbots and bishops occur with certainty only from the mid-8th century. Trim escaped the depredations of the Norsemen but it was burned in 784 (AU) and three times in the 12th century – 1128 (AU), 1143 (AFM), and 1155 (AFM). The ford is attested in shallow water above the bridge (ME036-048001-) (Conwell 1872-3, 361-2), but others consider Lomán as possibly belonging to the Colla Dá Chríoch of Armagh (Ó Riain 2011, 401). Although there is no physical evidence of a pre Anglo-Norman church at what became the parish church of Trim, and numerous other possibilities have been mooted (Potterton 2005, 59-65), the location and co-incidence of the name suggests it may have been on the same site as St Patrick’s parish church. A section cut through what was probably an E-W fosse or ditch (Wth c. 5m; D 1.1m) under Loman St just W of the graveyard showed two clay fills but produced no artefacts (Meenan 1996, 6, 1997), and raises the tantalizing possibility that it is an a-ceramic and pre Anglo-Norman feature. St Patrick’s parish church of Trim is within a rectangular graveyard (dims c. 70m E-W; c. 50m N-S) defined by masonry walls. Its history and archaeological and architectural remains have been described thoroughly by Potterton (2005, 267-93), of which this is a summary. The earliest reference is from c. 1188. It had at least two chapels and possibly four, including one in the rood loft. Trim was a wealthy parish with a large rural area, and it was the head of a deanery. The ecclesiastical taxation (1302-06) of Pope Nicholas IV valued Trym and its chapel at over £40 (Cal. doc. Ire. 5, 256). St Patrick’s was one of the wealthiest churches in Meath, and the post of rector or parish priest was a desirable one. Consequently it featured in many disputes, as a result of which many of its clergy are known (Conwell 1873, 409-10). Ussher (1622) describes the church as in reasonably good repair (Erlington 1847-64, 1, lxxx), and Dopping (1682-5) says the church was in good repair but the chancel was ruined since 1641. The windows were glazed, the floor was clay and the roof was of slates. At that time eight rural churches were associated with it, and the graveyard was enclosed by a stone wall (Ellison 1972, 8). The medieval church continued in use until the present Church of Ireland church was built on its site in 1803 (Lewis 1837, 2, 645), and this now serves as the Cathedral of Meath. Of the medieval structure, the shell of the chancel to the E of the present structure and the tower, located just N of the W end of the present church, survive. There is a base-batter on the present W wall, indicating that parts of it may be original. Part of a nave wall is under the N wall of the present church, and the scar of a wall on the E face of the tower suggests that it may have been a double nave church or had an aisle. The tower is rectangular (ext. dims 7.53m E-W; 6.58m N-S) with a base-batter and has a stairs tower (ext. dims 2.98m E-W; 1.55m N-S) projecting N from its NW angle. This is now entered from the outside, but was originally entered from the N-S barrel-vaulted ground floor, which now communicates with the W end of the church through a pointed neo-gothic doorway at S. The tower has four upper stages, the topmost being the belfry stage with twin-light transom openings on each face and small lights above. An armorial plaque on the W face of the tower bears the arms of de Burgh and Mortimer, from which a building date of 1372-1425 has been suggested for the tower (Hickey 1983), if the plaque is in its original position, but a 15th century date is likely in any case. The chancel (ext. dims 9.25m plus E-W; 8.4m N-S) has been ruined since 1641 and is now in a precarious condition, being made inaccessible for safety reasons. Its N and S walls survive to the eaves and a doorway in the N wall is blocked. In 1795 Cooper described a room attached to the N wall that was probably a sacristy (Price 1942, 99) and which does not survive. There is an elaborate three-light cusped ogee-headed window under a square hood-moulding with carved heads on the labels and open spandrels, which is inserted in the S wall and probably replaced two earlier windows. Graveslabs and fragments of tombs have been found in the vicinity of the chancel, but two of these at least have been moved to the ground floor of the church tower where five are displayed. Also in the tower there is an armorial plaque with three fish, two groups of three angels bearing armorial plaques, and a fragment illustrating six apostles that was originally from Ratoath and probably from a cross. An elaborate piscina or font is at the W end of the church (Roe 1968 101-05). At least five graveslabs or fragments of graveslabs are in the vicinity of the chancel and another fragment is built into the W end of the S wall of the present church. A headstone with the date 1694 is just NE of the tower, and another headstone with an illegible inscription in false relief is just S of the chancel. (Potterton 2005, App. 13, 394-412) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of revision: 16 February 2015

• ME036-048013 Architectural fragment
  Description

  From Potterton (2005, App. 13, 409-12) At least fifty fragments of medieval masonry, mainly of window tracery, can be seen in the vicinity of the church of St Patrick (ME036-048012-). Most of the pieces have been gathered together and piled at the west end of the medieval chancel, but others are to be found underneath some of the table tombs in the graveyard, and several decorated pieces have been placed in the vestibule of the tower. Among the various slabs and pieces of masonry that have been assembled into a ‘fire-place’ are some window mullions with grooves for glazing. Two mullions are each decorated with an undulating branch of ivy and oak leaves in relief. A number of ogee-headed windows are also represented among the scattered vestiges, at least one of which was at least triple-light. There are also pieces of doorjambs and capitals as well as gable fragments and part of a carved stone drain or gutter. A number of worked sandstone blocks were reused in the construction of the west door of the tower. In 1885 it was recorded (Butler 1854, 168) that ‘some years ago... the remains of another tomb and of a carved doorway [from Newtown Trim], for greater security were also inserted in the porch at the east end of Trim Church’. Butler also brought some decorated floor-tiles from Bective and others from Newtown Trim to St Patrick’s Church where he placed them in the wall of the vestry. In 1906 the tiles were still present (Anon. 1906, 449), but they are not visible today (2005). The ‘vestry’ of which Butler writes seems to be the ground floor of the tower, now used as an entrance porch. The present vestry was a later addition. In Butler’s time, the entrance to the church was through a door in the west wall of the nave. When the door was being blocked up, Butler took the opportunity to insert the piscina into the new wall. A flat, perforated, rectangular stone, measuring 35cm in height and 40cm in maximum width, has been incorporated into the wall of a shed beside the Old Rectory across the road from St Patrick’s Church (Fig. 11.33). The left hand portion of the stone is missing and it appears that, when complete, the stone would have measured at least 50cm across. At what would have been the centre of the stone, the three tear-shaped holes form a triskele similar to those on the ‘Thomas A' Beckett stone’, above (Fig. 11.6). This piece may have functioned as a window or for ventilation. Its provenance is not known, but it may have been brought here from the church across the road. A number of comparable triskele stones are known from eldwhere in Ireland, such as the two at Coole, near Ferbane, and the one from Taghshinny, near Ballymahon, Co. Longford (Manning 1994, 24-5; Corlett 2001, 41). Date of upload: 16 February, 2015

• ME036-048014 Graveslab
  Description

  From Potterton (2005, App. 13, 395, No. 2): Thirteenth/fourteenth-century Purbeck slab This monument was set by Butler into a disused doorway in the north wall of the ruined chancel of St Patrick's church (ME036-048012-). A recent examination confirmed that this badly decayed memorial slab, now in two pieces, is of stone imported from the Isle of Purbeck in Dorsetshire (Gittos and Gittos 1998, 5, 12, 13). Although usually described as ‘marble’, the stone from Purbeck is in fact a dark, fossiliferous limestone, favoured by masons in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This late-thirteenth- or early fourteenth-century, coffin-shaped slab also has indents for a marginal Lombardic brass inscription, enclosed on both the inside and outside by a lcm-thick border. Conwell (1872-3, 400-01) noted that there was a speck of greenish metal remaining in the inscription when he inspected it in the early 1870s. With the exception of a small number of letters, the lettering on the matrix is now indecipherable. Even when Conwell was writing in the 1870s it was impossible to decipher the name of the ecclesiastic, but he was able to identify a cross followed by the letters IVID and space for about six more letters. The name is followed by an inscription which Butler recorded as...HIC: RECTOR: ET: ARC[HILE V1TES]: HIC: JACET: IRA: DEI: PACIFICETVR: El: (Butler 1854, 155). The word archilevites has been translated as archdeacon. In England, monuments of this type are known from as early as the 1270s, but the presence at the head of this slab of what was once identifiable as the bust of an ecclesiastic under a pinnacled and crocketted canopy, led King (1994, 124) to suggest a date in the first decades of the fourteenth century. A monument of similar style is the tomb of Sir Richard de Boselyngthorpe, at Buslingthorpe in Lincolnshire, which dates to c. 1290. [Length: 200cm; Width: 80-75cm; Depth of indent: c.2mm)

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Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands on this parcel.

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