Trim Village

Turning Townie

As we finished our walk along the beautiful Trim Heritage Trail, it was time for something to eat, something hot to drink, and maybe something cold to drink. We headed west back to Trim village proper, and took a look up and down the High Street in search of a suitable venue.

The village of Trim straddles the River Boyne, and the town, unlike the surrounding countryside, is built up high above the riverbanks to prevent flooding. The modern town doesn't have nearly the same population or the political influence it had 700 years ago, but it is a fresh and interesting place to visit, especially as a rest from the noise and crowds of Dublin.

Trim High Street

Finding Food

We first ventured up the hill to a pub listed by Rick Steves as a great place for a drink. When we found it, we found a wonderful pub atmosphere, but it was empty but for us. When we found out there was no food menu, we had to move on.

Back on the High Street, we found several pubs, but none with a food menu! Across the street, we saw this charming food hall, An Tromán. This translates to The Elder Tree. Trim, after all, comes from the Irish, Baile (Town) Átha (Ford or river crossing) Troim (Elderflowers), meaning, Town at the Ford of the Elderflowers. The relation to Tromán and Troim is obvious, even to non-Irish speakers like us.

Exterior

Lunch was beautiful, diner-style, and served at diner prices. We had hot tea with sugar and milk with hot toasted sandwiches, salads, and Hunky Dorys potato crisps. After a long walk in the slight early-Spring chill, this was exactly what we needed.

Lunch at An Tromán

Sniffing out some Suds

After lunch, we needed to find some cold drinks. We walked around the corner from the High Street, which was still very quiet on this Saturday afternoon. Several pub signs dotted the hill north of the High Street, so up we went. These small pubs looked busier, and gentlemen were walking to and fro between the pub and the sports betting bookie next door. We chose one and went in.

This pub was hopping compared to the larger, nicer High Street pubs. Every television was tuned to live coverage from the horse racing track, and the patrons of the pub all had their betting tickets and were watching the races closely. So that explained the busy bookie next door. These gents were enjoying a Saturday afternoon at the pub losing some money on the ponies. Now it all made sense.

We weren't quite ready to start throwing down our bucks on the horses, but we did get a round of drinks as the pub regulars looked at us like the out-of-towners we were. They weren't unwelcoming, but we could tell that everyone to a man knew each other in that pub, and this couple with American accents were a bit of a novelty.

Before we finished our drinks, the pub got busier (and the average age of the crowd much younger) as a wedding party piled in for a pre-or-post-wedding drink. Probably post-wedding, pre-reception. In a small town like this, a local wedding would be a big deal that everyone knows about, and there was much celebrating.

After our drinks, it was time to go back to the bus stop and catch our ride back to Dublin. We saw more of the wedding party driving and honking in the streets on our way through town. Back at the bus stop, we waited and admired the castle, River Boyne, and the trail. All were clearly visible from the lonely bus stop at the edge of this small town. We reflected about how great a day it had been in this cute and historic Irish town. We hope to visit many more towns like this, in Ireland and on the rest of this great continent.