Trim

Trim stands beside the River Boyne in Meath, within a productive agricultural landscape west of Dublin. River crossings and roads helped make it a center for markets, administration, and travel. Fields and livestock supplied local households and neighboring towns, while craftsmen and merchants served the population gathered around its fortified and religious institutions. The setting linked the settlement with both the eastern seaboard and the wider Irish interior.

The town's great castle expressed the power established by Anglo-Norman lords after their arrival in Ireland. Built by Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter, it became a centre of the lordship of Meath. In the fifteenth century the Irish parliament met at the castle, where a mint also operated. In 1649, after the garrison withdrew, Oliver Cromwell's army occupied Trim.