An Irish Year in Tourism

Before moving to Ireland, Cory and I were not completely inexperienced in navigating new places. I wouldn't say that we are worldly or seasoned travelers, but we had some shared domestic and international travel experiences under our belts (including our Farewell to America Road Trip in the weeks before our departure). To quote Rick Steves, our favorite travel writer, "travel is intensified living". For better or worse, you learn a lot about yourself and your travel companions in the course of an extended trip far from home.

I have learned a couple things about myself in traveling, the primary lesson being that it brings my type A personality to the forefront. I am a planner. A spreadsheet-making, travel-book-reading, list-writing, budget-generating planner. I try really hard to roll with the punches while traveling, but for me an hour spent lost in a train station is an hour I won't spend walking through the gardens of Versailles or drinking beer while listening to live polka music or eating gelato while watching gondolas wind through canals. It's an almost unbearable loss for me and it drives me to ambitiously fill our schedule to the brim. Traveling this way is exhausting, but I fear retrospective trip regret far too much to risk missing out on a must-see sight. 

All of that preamble is merely meant to explain why one of my most difficult transitions upon moving to Ireland was actually living in Ireland. For at least a month (maybe longer) I was unable to just be at home on an evening or weekend. We were in a foreign country! There are new and exciting places to see! Museums to visit! Shouldn't we be drinking Guinness or walking up a grassy hill spotted with sheep? Listening to trad music? Touring a castle? We couldn't just relax at home! We were wasting time! 

It's fortunate for me that I brought a patient companion who was able to tolerate my manic bursts of travel-hunger. Someone to talk me down and convince me that since we would be here for awhile we had plenty of time. There was no need to spend every available moment sightseeing, and we should take breaks from the spreadsheets every now and then. It took some time for that mindset to sink in, but fortunately for both of us it finally did. 

Traveling abroad is constantly exciting and exhilarating. Living abroad is not. It can't be. At some point, the surroundings and local colloquialisms become familiar...and thank goodness they do. Don't get me wrong, life in Ireland is interesting. We continue to learn new things about Irish history, culture, and politics while we are slowly crossing off items on our list of Irish places to visit, but I definitely feel like we have settled in. Work, chores, and weekly errands all have to be done. The mundane aspects of life exist here just as they do in the U.S., and sometimes I can spend a weekend at home binging on Orange is the New Black without feeling like I'm losing out on travel experiences. 

"Intensified living" cannot be a permanent state of being. We strive to keep a balance between accomplishing all of the tasks required of us as functioning adults and taking advantage of our location and situation as much as we can. Since moving to Ireland, we have always had at least one trip planned for our near future, and think that if we continue at our pace we will be able to look back on our time spent here without regret. 

For anyone interested in our last year of Irish travels, check out the blog posts about sights around Dublin, Northern Ireland, Cork, Trim Castle, Howth, and Newgrange. For our trips around Europe, see posts about Munich and Prague (and stay tuned for Belgium).

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.

Trim Heritage Trail

After our tour of Trim Castle itself, we decided to take a leisurely stroll on the Trim Heritage Trail on the banks of the River Boyne.  The trail was one of the first things we noticed when we hopped off the bus.  We made a note to explore it after catching the earliest possible castle tour.

This area, now just east of Trim village, used to be a huge center of political and religious power for this region.  Trim Castle was of course the center of that center, but rest of the ancient walled city and surrounding fields were home to the largest churches, abbeys, and other institutions in this part of Ireland.

The first sight on the trail is just across the river from the castle, and is easily seen (and photographed) from the top ramparts of the castle keep.  This solitary tower is known as the Yellow Steeple and is the last remaining piece of an abbey that stood on this spot in the 14th century.  In its time, the belfry tower of this church was one of the tallest buildings in Ireland.

The Yellow Steeple

Just past the busy area around the castle, the trail winds through some riverside pasture land.  Ireland is famous for her sheep, so it should come as no surprise that we were face to face with some of the woolly buggers grazing near the trail.

Sheep

The bank around the River Boyne is surprisingly low and flat.  I imagine the river breaks its banks fairly easily, spreading to the large floodplain on both sides.  Several low wetland like swamps spread out from the lowest spots of land.  Evidence of old roads and bridges still stand among the pastures.

Stone Bridge

About a half mile from the castle is the ruin of Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral.  This was (again in its time) the largest Gothic church in Ireland.  Dating back to the 13th century, today it stands as a stone ruin, but it isn't completely abandoned.

Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral Ruins

A peaceful and well-kept cemetery is still in use in and around the ruins today.  Markers dating back mere months to hundreds of years are arranged in the gardens and trees of the Cathedral.

Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral and Cemetery

Farther down the trail (farther than most of the other visitors care to walk...) is the Hospital of St. John the Baptist.  To get to the hospital, walkers (and daring drivers) must cross the narrow 15th-century bridge stone bridge.  Traffic lights on both sides control the vehicle traffic on this one-lane narrow bridge, and cars and trucks take turns crossing the river one at a time.

Narrow Road Bridge

The Hospital of St. John the Baptist also dates to the 13th century, and was just that... a hospital.  Sick and war-wounded were treated here by medically trained monks.  Today, visitors can explore the ruins and see the remains of treatment rooms, storage cupboards, and the main central chapel.

Hospital of St. John the Baptist

See how low that bank is on the mighty River Boyne?  I imagine (maybe incorrectly) that the low lands and the ancient ruins must flood regularly.  The stone can handle it, and we noticed that modern buildings (including Trim town) are built away from the water or built on river flood walls like Dublin's quays (pronounced keys).

Obligatory Cory-Looking-At-The-Water Shot

 After making the pleasant trip down the trail to these quiet and out-of-the-way historical ruins, it was time for something to eat and something hot to drink... followed by something cold to drink.

Stay tuned!

Visiting Trim Castle

Bit By the Travel Bug 

Spring is on its way here in Ireland.  In fact, March 1 marks the first day of calendar Spring here- but Ireland traditionally celebrates the first of February, St. Brigid's Day, as the first day of Spring.

Either way, the weekend weather was looking good, and we were itching to get out of Dublin, no disrespect to our fair city, of course.  We decided to take a day trip to nearby Trim, County Meath to see its famous castle and explore the rest of the historic village.

Trim is an easy one hour bus ride on Bus Eireann from Dublin's central bus station, Busaras.  We woke up early and walked the three miles up to City Centre on a Saturday morning.  Among all the weekend morning detritus, I found a beer glass with the Murphy's Stout label, a rare and unique gem for my glass collection.  It was going to be with us for the rest of the day, but that didn't bother us a bit.

We caught the 9:30 bus and enjoyed a pleasant ride through the suburbs and bedroom communities around Dublin until we reached Trim.  The bus stop (along with most everything in Trim) is within sight of its famous Norman castle on the bank of the (also famous) River Boyne.  After a quick and pleasant walk we arrived at the gate of this medieval masterpiece.

The Castle from the Riverbank

The Castle from the Road to Dublin

Trim Castle

In the offseason, the castle is only open on weekends.  With the exception of a large bus tour arriving just as we did, the castle and grounds weren't as busy and crowded as most tourist attractions.  I guess it's our good luck that we can visit on a beautiful early Spring day before the height of summer tourist season hits.

The castle complex itself consists of a large central structure (keep) and the surrounding walls, gates, and towers.  The keep itself is very well preserved and well presented for visitors.  Many of the buildings in the castle yard are no longer standing, but interpretive signs give visitors a visualization of the general layout.  The keep itself is only accessible with the excellent guided tour, and we were fortunate enough to arrive just in time for the next one.

Trim Castle Keep

Keep Central Structure

Safe and Comfortable Access

The tour of the interior of the keep is incredible.  Most of the original wood flooring is missing, and the central structure of the keep is now one large room looking up to the rafters.  That said, the keep has been made accessible with an extensive series of platforms and walkways, giving visitors a safe way to move about the keep and its three floors.  A series of scale models depict the keep at various stages of its development, beginning in the 1170s.  Our tour guide described in detail the many design quirks of the keep, particularly its famous defensive flaws.

The main keep is a central square structure with four square towers on its sides.  After the towers were completed, the engineers realized that all these corners were severe flaws in defense.  The main keep had twenty sides, meaning twenty sides to guard and defend, and twenty corners that enemy invaders could exploit.  Those same (or maybe some replacement) engineers developed some clever defensive workarounds to solve this major problem.  At the base of each tower, they installed short, steep stone ramps, or batter walls.  These ramps extended the bottom angle of each tower, and made it difficult for invaders to lean a ladder against the tower.  They also provided another violent and hilarious new defense method.  Their angle was calculated so that a rock dropped from the towers above would hit the ramps and bounce off at a right angle (and at high velocity) at anyone unfortunate to be on the ground at the time.  Think like an ancient game of billiards or pool with larger balls and much higher stakes...

Angled Batter Walls

Wooden walkways were added outward from the high towers of the keep to aid the guards in surveillance and defense.  The walkways were topped with animal skins, which would be soaked with water to resist fire in the event of an attack.  As a backup plan, the support beams of these exterior walkways could be pulled out from inside the keep, dropping the entire wooden structure (possibly in flames) onto the attackers below.

We later laughed and wondered at the resources, engineering, and manpower that went into defense in those violent times.  Those in power must have lived in such paranoia, spending every waking moment looking over their shoulder, wondering which of their employees might betray them or when that invading army would come in the night.  We couldn't help but wonder what would happed if these lords had invested all those same defensive resources into improving the hard life of their subordinates.  Could they have lived in peace as benevolent and generous rulers, or would human nature ultimately bring about the same coups and assassinations?  I guess the world today would be a better place today if we knew the definitive answer to that question...

Back to the keep, where the tour goes all the way to the top ramparts and a beautiful all-around view of the castle grounds, the city of Trim, and beyond.  Our tour guide pointed out the location of several important buildings within sight of the castle, some still partially standing, some lost to development.  We could even see a memorial to a modern-day Irish hero.  A statue stands on a pillar of Wellington, the man who beat Napoleon at Waterloo, an Irish man from Trim.  Another monument to him stands in Phoenix Park in Dublin.

Barbican Gate

Main Castle Town Gate

River Boyne and Yellow Steeple

River Boyne from the Ramparts

Wellington Monument

We climbed down the long, winding staircase to the ground floor.  The going is a bit tough, as the staircases were built with uneven step height and step width to slow down unfamiliar attackers.  They also wind clockwise going up to give the advantage to right handed defenders with the high position.  We finished the keep tour and headed out to poke around the castle grounds.

Most of the remaining structures are either part of the exterior wall or below ground level.  We crawled around and snapped photos of the various ins and outs of the remaining stonework, getting occasional glances at the old moat surrounding the wall and the River Boyne just beyond.

Below the Great Hall

Underground Passage

Moat and Fallen Tower

Defense Tower

Famous Barbican Gate

I love the European plan for visiting these old structure.  Visitors are allowed to look around most areas unsupervised and without velvet ropes blocking off possibly interesting areas.  The keep itself requires a guided tour for obvious safety and preservation reasons, but everything on the grounds is fair game.  We got to closely inspect the stonework of each tower and wall face.

Until very recently, the castle was even more accessible- but not for the best of reasons.  Until the 1990s, the castle was privately owned but not well maintained, preserved, or managed.  According to our tour guide, it was a popular hiding place for young hooligans skipping school.  Adventurous kids used to climb around the narrow, crumbling ledges of the interior keep on dares.  I am certainly glad I wasn't a kid in Trim when it was a free-for-all, as I might not have survived childhood. I most likely would have crushed myself on the stone floor of the keep after saying something like, "Hey!  Look how far up I...!"

Because it sat fallow and unmanaged for so long, a great deal of unfortunate graffiti is carved into many faces of ancient stonework.  Sad, but a reality in the world.  It's amazing as an American to think of an eight hundred year old castle sitting in the middle of a city and no one knowing what to do with it.  In The States, people cried foul during urban renewal in the 1970s, when many cities tore down unused buildings from the late nineteenth century.  Here, they've got s'many gorsh-darn castles they're trippin' over 'em!

Among all this gushing, I haven't yet mentioned one of the favorite claims to fame of the castle.  In 1994, Mel Gibson paid a visit to Trim to film several important scenes for his movie, Braveheart.  The movie crew built wooden railings and platforms onto the existing stone of some of more well preserved structures.  They filmed different scenes at the castle, including the sacking of York (the part with the battering ram), the Prince's lover being thrown out the tower window, and the famous torture and execution scene at the end of the movie.

After an enjoyable morning spent in and around the castle grounds, it was time to move on.  We took one last look at the walls and the fabulous keep, and headed for more ancient ruins along the River Boyne.

One Last Look

Totally Unsolicited Travel Tips (Updated March 2014)

1. To get to Trim from Dublin Busaras, take Bus Eireann route 111.  The fare is reasonable and the bus runs regularly on weekdays.  The schedule is slightly reduced on Saturday and Sunday.  The bus drops off and picks up just east of the castle and town.  Take the walking trail along the river towards the huge stone castle-shaped object.
2. It might not be feasible in your travel plans, but our off-season weekend visit spared us the busy summer crowds.  Check tour availability in advance of your visit date.  Entrance to the castle grounds only is 3 Euro.  Entrance to the castle grounds and a guided tour of the keep costs 4 Euro.  If this sounds like a no-brainer, it is.  The tour of the keep is fantastic, and the only way to get into the keep itself.  If you are spending the time and money to get to Trim and the castle, there is no reason to cheap out on the admission.  Pop the extra coin for the keep tour, you'll be glad you did. 
3. We got lucky with the early Spring weather and stayed warm and dry.  You might not.  Check the weather forecast and come prepared.  The keep itself is covered, but the grounds are open to the sky and the good graces of the weather.  Some of the lower ground near the moat and the River Boyne is soft and muddy in the rain- watch your step.