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16 July 2016

It was a beautiful morning when we woke up today.  It really didn’t take very long to get packed up, so we had a similar schedule to the other mornings and we ended up departing our house at 10:06 bound for Trim.

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to stop in Dunkineely to see the Killaghtee Cross (a precursor to high crosses), so we made a brief detour off the main road (N56) to check it out.  It was pretty easy to find and we quickly began to head down the well-marked path to the churchyard which houses the cross.  On the path there were more animal droppings than we had seen other places and the piles were much bigger than any others we had seen on our trip.

In the distance I could see a horse and I wondered if there might be more around.  The lane leading to the church was beautiful and really set a nice scene.

Liam and I were leading the charge and soon could see the old church.  A moment later I made out an animal on the path and said to Liam, “Féach ar an asal!”  It was then that I realized there were two, then three, then four donkeys in the path.  Liam and I stopped and watched for a moment.  It appeared to be a mother with three children.  We turned around to tell Sarah the situation.  Her response: “No problem.  We’ll just go past them.”

 

 

 

 

 

So, back we marched up the lane and this time we all stopped and looked at the donkeys as they looked back at us.  Then suddenly, one of the donkeys started to trot toward us so we all turned around and headed for the exit.  Soon, all of the donkeys were in pursuit.  By the time we got to the end of the lane and had the gate closed they were all pretty close to us.  I’m fairly sure that they were harmless, but I didn’t want to chance it with the children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the donkeys safely secured,  we made our way across the island to Trim.  In Cavan we stopped at the McDonald’s where we ate our picnic lunch, used the restroom and then enjoyed coffee and ice creams inside in the restaurant.  Now that we had refueled, we proceeded to Trim.

Soon we had reached Kells and I left the N3 and followed the Old National Road to Navan (now rechristined R147).  If you decide to use this route, you simply follow the signposts on the roundabout, it is marked Kells R147).  I didn’t want to pay the toll on the M3 and also wasn’t sure which exit from the motorway I would need to take take to get to Trim (SIDENOTE:  Take Junction 9 to Athboy).  It worked great, all the local roads were the same quality as before the Motorway was built and I had driven that way many, many times before on my way to and from Dublin.

We arrived at Bective Abbey about 2:30 PM.  We were really enjoying this wonderful abbey when both children announced that they needed the restroom.  Thankfully I had called the B&B from the carpark before we walked up to the abbey so she was expecting us.  We drove into Trim and checked into Tigh Cathain where everyone used the restroom before we headed back out.  We didn’t really get to see the abbey as much as we wanted, but decided that we better go to Trim Castle first, since it was already after 3 PM and the only site we planned to visit with a closing was the castle (5 PM).

Trim Castle is famous for being the largest of the Anglo-Norman castles in Ireland.  It really became famous though when it was used as the city of York in the 1995 film Braveheart.  It also served as “London Square” in the film.  It also is as impressive as advertised.  The Keep is very similar to Bunratty, but here it was just one part of the complex which included a moat and the only barbican gate in Ireland.  We chose to purchase entrance to the castle grounds only (which does not include entrance to the keep), so it was €4 for our whole group.  Both children really had an amazing time exploring this castle.  The fact that it was sunny and warm and that everything except for the Keep is accessible made it a very enjoyable stop for everyone.  For children, this is really fantastic stop.  We had parked next to the castle in the carpark and stayed until our time ran out (parking is pay and display).

The Keep

Then we returned to Bective Abbey, which the children hadn’t wanted to leave originally.  Bective Abbey was the second Cistercian Monastary built in Ireland (a daughter house of Mellifont Abbey in Co. Louth).  Henry VIII closed the abbey in 1536 and it was handed over to a loyal Englishman.  He incorporated a Manor House into the complex (which already resembled a castle fortification) making the abbey look even more like a fortified house.  Because of this, the abbey also was used as Edward I’s castle in Braveheart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children absolutely loved the abbey.  They explored every inch of the buildings and most of the surrounding enclosure (SIDENOTE:  Children do need to be supervised here.  There are places where the floor disappears on the second floor).  After exploring the abbey for a while everyone was beginning to get hungry.  In total we spent about three hours at the castle and abbey but I think everyone would have been happy to stay longer at either sight.

We returned to the town centre in Trim and parked on the street (parking is free in the evening).  We wandered around the area that surrounds the castle looking for a restaurant and ended up at the Stockhouse Restaurant.  We chose it because there were other families with children dining when we walked by and Sarah liked the menu.  Since we had eaten most of meals in the house or as picnics, Sarah and I were hoping for a nice meal and this was a perfect choice for us.  The restaurant advertised that they catered to families and I’m happy to say that they did.  We were able to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful evening.  Everyone had a delicious meal with a nice wait staff in a pleasant setting.

After our meal we began the River Walk in hopes of seeing the sites in Newtown.  We walked aways (probably halfway) along the river and could see the Cathedrals, but the children needed to turn back.  We started our walk from the restaurant a few minutes before 8 PM and the children quickly began to wear down.  We did stop by the Sheep’s Gate and Yellow Steeple on the way back to our car though and I’m very glad that we did.  The Yellow Steeple was really impressive and I had not expected it to be.  The Sheep’s Gate is the last standing gate of the medieval town wall.  The Yellow Steeple is the remains of a former abbey (and pilgrimage site) that used to exist next to the castle.  We probably only saw half of what Trim has to offer and I would like to return sometime to see the rest of it.  By this time it was 9 PM and we wrapped up our last night in Ireland already thinking of our next trip.

 

 

 

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