page_title: Trim, County Meath
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Trim, County Meath / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo from Trim, County Meath
context_page_description: Trim is a town in County Meath, Ireland. It is situated on the River Boyne and has a population of 9,194. The town is noted for Trim Castle – the largest Cambro-Norman castle in Ireland. One of the two cathedrals of the United Dioceses of Meath and Kildare — St Patrick's cathedral — is located north of the river. Trim won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1972, 1984, and 2014 and was the "joint" winner with Ballyconnell in 1974. Traditionally Trim was the county town of Meath, but this title was passed on over time onto larger, neighbouring town Navan.
context_section_description: At an early date, a monastery was founded at Trim, which lay within the petty kingdom (tuath) of the Cenél Lóegairi. It is traditionally thought to have been founded by St. Patrick and left in the care of its patron saint Lommán, also locally known as Loman, who flourished sometime between the 5th and early 6th century. When domestic politics endangered the position of Lommán's foundation, the church of Armagh assimilated Lommán into the dossier of St. Patrick, making him a disciple of that saint. Attackers burned the church several times in the twelfth century. The town was first captured by the English during the Norman invasion of Ireland and a castle was built. However, the town was recaptured and the castle burned by a massive Irish army under the command of Ruadhrí Ua Conchobair, King of Ireland. Later, it was refounded as an St. Mary's Abbey under Augustinian rule. The abbey church was the sanctuary for "Our Lady of Trim", a wooden statue reported to work miracles. The statue made Trim a major pilgrimage site from at least 1397. During the Reformation the statue was burned and Henry VIII dissolved the abbey. The abbey's bell tower, the "Yellow Steeple", is the primary remnant of St. Mary's.
  With the spelling "Áth Truim", the bishopric is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. Since it is not mentioned in either of the lists of the reduced number of sees approved by the Synod of Ráth Breasail (1111) and the Synod of Kells (1152), it was one of the monastic establishments that were no longer recognized as seats of bishops after the 12th-century reorganization of the Church in Ireland. Its territory was joined to that of Meath Diocese.
  Lying 61 m above sea level on the River Boyne, Trim became one of the most important Hiberno-Norman settlements in the Middle Ages. In the 15th century the Norman-Irish parliament met in Trim. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington is reputed to have been born in Dangan Castle between Trim and Summerhill, and a large column to him was erected in the town in 1817. The town's main feature is Ireland's largest Norman castle, Trim Castle; other features include two ruined church complexes, the Boyne River for fishing, and the Butterstream Gardens, visited by Charles, Prince of Wales in the mid-nineties (no longer open to the public).
  Trim Castle (or King John's Castle) is Ireland's largest Norman castle. It was built in the late 12th century following the Norman invasion of Ireland. Trim and the surrounding lands were granted to Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, a Norman baron. Richard II of England stayed there before being ousted from power. Once a candidate to be the country's capital, the town has also occupied a role as one of the outposts of the Pale, and sessions of the Irish Parliament were sometimes held here, as in 1542. It was also designated by Elizabeth I of England as the planned location for a Protestant Dublin University (known as Trinity College, Dublin). However this was revised by Sir Francis Drake, who advocated the case for locating the University in Dublin. In 1649 after the sacking of Drogheda, the garrison of Trim fled to join other Irish forces and the town was occupied by the army of Oliver Cromwell. There were many local disturbances in neighbouring villages in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, most infamously the battle on the Hill of Tara, following the dispersal of the Wexford rebellion. Trim was represented by Arthur Wellesley in the Irish Parliament from 1790 to 1797.
  The 19th century saw the construction of Trim Courthouse, St. Loman's Catholic church, St. Patrick's Anglican church, the Wellington column, the current Bank of Ireland building, and Castle Street by Lord Dunsany, a major landowner. Following the Great Irish Famine of 1846–1849, the practices of agriculture in the hinterland altered, with a change in emphasis from tillage to stock raising. This resulted in a change in the business life of Trim. Trim developed as a market town for the productive agricultural hinterland. Some small-scale local industries were developed including envelope, 
caption: Newtown Abbey
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