Trim

Trim is a town in County Meath 50 km northwest of Dublin. With a population in 2022 of 9600, it's primarily a commuter town for the capital, but its castle and other historic sites point to its significance in the nation's affairs. Trim is a good base for visiting the Hill of Tara; the county town of Navan is closer but lacks visitor amenities.

Understand
Trim (Baile Átha Troim, "town at the ford of elderflowers") stands at a crossing of the River Boyne, guarded by a large Norman castle. The Normans rebuilt the 5th-century monastery as St Mary's Abbey, with other abbeys established at Blackfriars and at Newtown, and they walled the town. This heritage has been much assaulted over centuries of wars and tumults, but enough remains to make it worth a day or two's visit, and it's been used as a location in several films. The ambiance was much improved when town centre was bypassed in the 1980s. Trim is nowadays the national headquarters of the Office of Public Works (Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) which maintains many of Ireland's sites.

Trim Tourist Office  is by the castle entrance. It's open M-F 9:30AM-5:30PM, Sa Su noon-4PM.

Get in
Bus Éireann 111 runs hourly from Dublin Busáras via Batterstown to Trim (one hour) and continues to Athboy. Bus 111X is a commuter special M-F.

109B runs from Dublin Busáras every two hours via Blanchardstown, Dunshaughlin and Kilmessan to Trim, taking 75 min.

From the airport take Bus 109A (heading for Kells) and change at Dunshaughlin (except on the one bus a day that serves Trim). At night Bus 109A starts from city centre.

Bus 190 runs hourly from Drogheda (for trains from Belfast) via Slane, Navan and Connell's Cross (for Bective Abbey), taking an hour to Trim.

The buses make several stops in Trim including by the castle entrance. For route maps and stop locations, see the TFI route mapper.

By road from Dublin follow M3 to junction 6 at Dunshaughlin then R125 / R154 north; reckon just under an hour.

Get around
You can walk to Newtown Abbey along the riverbank. You need wheels for the outlying sites.

Taxi operators are Trim Taxi +353 86 388 8500 and Donie Quinn +353 46 943 6009.

See

 * St Mary's Abbey is the ruin facing the castle across the river. Supposedly founded by St Patrick, it was twice burnt down in the 12th century, along with everyone who'd taken refuge inside. It became an Augustinian abbey and probably a stone structure later that century, but burned again in 1368. Rebuilt, the abbey acquired a statue of the Virgin Mary that became revered across Ireland, drawing pilgrims and royal patronage for its supposed healing powers. But come the Dissolution this too was ceremonially burned, and the abbey wrecked for the final time. There wasn't really anything left to destroy when Oliver Cromwell's forces arrived in 1649 but (through force of habit) he destroyed anyway. The only substantial remnant is the 40 m bell tower: this catches the sunset as seen from town so it's dubbed the Yellow Steeple. The area is free to stroll 24 hours.
 * Talbot Castle next to the "steeple" is a fortified manor house built in 1415 with stone taken from the abbey. Talbot was bested at Orleans by Joan of Arc, but lived to fight again. The castle was owned in the 18th century by Stella Johnson, mistress of Jonathan Swift, who somehow had to fit in seeing her and other paramours, finishing his doctoral thesis, writing Gulliver's Travels, intriguing with the Tory government, and his day-job as Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral Dublin. In the 19th century it was a school, and one pupil was Arthur Wellesley, the future town MP and Duke of Wellington. No tours.
 * Talbot Castle next to the "steeple" is a fortified manor house built in 1415 with stone taken from the abbey. Talbot was bested at Orleans by Joan of Arc, but lived to fight again. The castle was owned in the 18th century by Stella Johnson, mistress of Jonathan Swift, who somehow had to fit in seeing her and other paramours, finishing his doctoral thesis, writing Gulliver's Travels, intriguing with the Tory government, and his day-job as Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral Dublin. In the 19th century it was a school, and one pupil was Arthur Wellesley, the future town MP and Duke of Wellington. No tours.
 * Porchfields are the green space stretching east of the abbey, now bisected by the R154 and used for outdoor events. Reach them by the footbridge across the river by the castle; the path continues downstream from Sheep Gate to Newtown Abbey. The name is probably from "perch", the 16.5-foot width of a medieval farming strip (or, if you insist, 5.0292 m). That was the length of a surveyor's rod, pole or perch, from the pertica or military pike used since Roman times. Forty perches make a furlong, 8 furlongs make a mile, and one furlong by one furlong square makes an acre; who needs laser, computer and GPS assistance for surveying?
 * Trim town walls were erected circa 1290, when the lord of Trim was granted "murage", the right to tax goods coming into town, to fund the construction of walls. They enclosed roughly an oblong 700 m north-south and 300 m east-west, both sides of the river with the castle compound in the southeast corner. The only physical remnants are Sheep Gate on the riverbank near the abbey, and some western sections along St Lomas Street down to Emmett Street; other parts are recalled in street names such as Navan Gate and Abbey Gate.
 * The bridge over the Boyne on Bridge St may well be Ireland'd oldest surviving intact bridge, repaired but not altered since 1393. The core of the town is south of here with the castle, courthouse and town hall.
 * Black Friary remains an archaeology research site. It was a Dominican Friary established in 1263 and dissolved in 1540. Its graveyard remained in use to the 18th century as a cillín cemetery for those not permitted to lie in consecrated ground: stillborn and unbaptized infants, suicides and the mentally infirm, beggars, executed criminals, and shipwreck victims.
 * St Peter's Bridge between the two abbeys is almost as ancient as the old bridge in town centre. It's still a public road, controlled by traffic lights as it's not wide enough for cars to pass. On the south bank, Echo Gate is not a medieval portal, but a place where you can holler across the river and get an echo from Newtown Abbey walls, should other amusements fail.
 * St Peter's Bridge between the two abbeys is almost as ancient as the old bridge in town centre. It's still a public road, controlled by traffic lights as it's not wide enough for cars to pass. On the south bank, Echo Gate is not a medieval portal, but a place where you can holler across the river and get an echo from Newtown Abbey walls, should other amusements fail.
 * St Peter's Bridge between the two abbeys is almost as ancient as the old bridge in town centre. It's still a public road, controlled by traffic lights as it's not wide enough for cars to pass. On the south bank, Echo Gate is not a medieval portal, but a place where you can holler across the river and get an echo from Newtown Abbey walls, should other amusements fail.
 * St Peter's Bridge between the two abbeys is almost as ancient as the old bridge in town centre. It's still a public road, controlled by traffic lights as it's not wide enough for cars to pass. On the south bank, Echo Gate is not a medieval portal, but a place where you can holler across the river and get an echo from Newtown Abbey walls, should other amusements fail.

Further out

 * , built in the 1700s, became the grand childhood home of the Duke of Wellington. In the early 19th century it was leased by the nationalist Roger O'Connor, who planned to entertain Napoleon there once Wellington and Britain were defeated. His second mistake was to have the castle burn down in circumstances that suggested insurance fraud, and his third was to be implicated in a stagecoach robbery and murder of 1812. He was acquitted but left in a huff for Paris (where he wrote an altogether bogus history of Ireland), and the damaged castle was beyond repair. The structure is unsafe to enter.
 * Laracor (Láithreach Cora) northwest of Dangan is where Jonathan Swift lived as church minister, before his appointment as Dean of St Patrick's in Dublin. The church has disappeared.
 * was Cistercian, founded in 1170 as a daughter of Mellifont Abbey 10 km northwest of Drogheda. Most of the remains are from the 15th century. In the 17th century parts were converted into a mansion. The site is free to wander, 24 hours.

Do

 * Aura Leisure Centre is off Newhaggard Rd. It has a pool, gym and fitness classes.
 * For theatre or cinema you'll need to go to Navan.
 * Golf: the closest course is at Knightsbrook Hotel, see Sleep. South Meath GC and County Meath GC are both southwest on R160. Killeen Castle in Dunsany is a plush resort with a championship course designed by Jack Nicklaus, see Sleep.
 * Learn to fly at Trim Flying Club. The airfield is 4 km along R161 towards Navan.
 * Trim Poetry Festival is in March.
 * Haymaking Festival is held on Porchfields in mid-June.
 * Trim Vintage & Veteran Car Show is in late July on Porchfields.
 * Salmon of Knowledge Festival in late August is a mixed bag of music, culture, wellness, a round-Ireland race, and other goings-on known only to the salmon.
 * Royal Meath Show is held on Porchfields in the first week of September.

Buy

 * Aldi by the Emmett St bridge is open M-F 9AM-10PM, Sa Su 9AM-9PM.

Eat

 * ... a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food....  - Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal" was for the poor to sell their excess children for the rich to eat.


 * Khan Spices at 9 Emmett St is open M-Sa 5-11PM, Su 2-10PM.
 * Khan Spices at 9 Emmett St is open M-Sa 5-11PM, Su 2-10PM.
 * Khan Spices at 9 Emmett St is open M-Sa 5-11PM, Su 2-10PM.

Drink

 * The High Horse at 7 Market St is open daily to 11:30PM.
 * Brú Brewery, founded in 2013, is on the business park north side of town. No tours.
 * The High Horse at 7 Market St is open daily to 11:30PM.
 * Brú Brewery, founded in 2013, is on the business park north side of town. No tours.
 * Brú Brewery, founded in 2013, is on the business park north side of town. No tours.

Sleep

 * The hostel has closed down, and there isn't a campsite.
 * Highfield House on Maudlins Rd in 2021 only offers self-catering.
 * Station House Hotel 7 km east at Kilmessan has a good restaurant.
 * Highfield House on Maudlins Rd in 2021 only offers self-catering.
 * Station House Hotel 7 km east at Kilmessan has a good restaurant.
 * Highfield House on Maudlins Rd in 2021 only offers self-catering.
 * Station House Hotel 7 km east at Kilmessan has a good restaurant.
 * Highfield House on Maudlins Rd in 2021 only offers self-catering.
 * Station House Hotel 7 km east at Kilmessan has a good restaurant.

Connect
As of April 2021, Trim has 5G from Eir and Three, and if you're lucky from Vodafone.

Go next

 * Drogheda is close to the Boyne battlefield and Brú Na Bóinne archaeological site.
 * Kells has remains of the monastery that for centuries housed the Book of Kells.
 * Maynooth has an elegant town centre and the stately Castletown House with two remarkable follies.