Trim

Trim (Irish: Baile Átha Troim) is the traditional county town of County Meath in Ireland, although the county town is now Navan. The town was recorded in the 2006 census to have a population of 6,870.

The closest neighbouring towns and villages are:

• Athboy (about 11kms northwest) • Enfield (~15kms south) • Navan (9kms northeast) • Dunshaughlin (15kms east)

Each of these South Meath towns have strong cultural, historical and social ties, and an interdependency in terms of commerce, recreation and leisure, and administration.

Situated 61 metres above sea level on the River Boyne, Trim was 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 during British rule, in 1817. The town's main feature is Ireland's largest castle, Trim Castle; other features include two ruined church complexes, the Boyne River for fishing and the Butterstream Gardens, visited by Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, Prince of Wales in the mid-nineties (no longer open to the public).

The Town Hall, known locally as the Market House, is reputed as one of Thin Lizzy's first concert venues, and has seen U2 and several other bands of worldwide influence play there over the years.

The development of a new town centre expansion zone immediately to the west of the existing town centre (at Townparks, Market Street and Emmet Street) is due to begin early in 2007. This new town centre will comprise open civic spaces, retail and office space, residential developments and a new headquarters for the Office of Public Works, or OPW, which is due to decentralise to the town by 2009.

An annual classic car show takes place in Trim every July, Trim Veteran and Vintage Rally has been running since 1985. It started in a small yard on Loman Street with just 23 cars. The founder, Norman Pratt, determined to expand the show, approached the Roundtree family who very kindly allowed The Porchfields to be used on the day. It has grown each year since then and there are now in excess of 500 cars and motor cycles on show.Many cars enter this for free to show the cars and hard work which can be admired.Many people come from around the globe to see this.

Trim Haymaking Festival is another festival held in the town every mid-June. The Porchfields, an amenity space rich in historic value, are home to a fair, market, and cultural displays.The main event being the tradisional making of the first hay of the year by hand and by old method macinery.This year, the descendants of Josephine (Bridget) Lynch will be attending the event.

The town is home to Western Europe's largest Norman castle, Trim Castle (or King John's Castle) which was built in the late 12th century following the Norman invasion of Ireland's eastern seaboard. Trim and the surrounding lands were granted to Hugh de Lacy, a Norman knight. Richard II of England stayed there before being ousted from power 1412. Once a candidate to be the country's capital, the town has also occupied a role as one of the outposts of the Pale. 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 massacre 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, and leather product manufcturing. Trim was also chosen as location for the Timoney Engineering company to make Fire Tenders. However in the main the town continued to mainly be a service centre for its immediate area. Trim was the birth place of the mother of prominent Irish nationalist, Pádraig Mac Piarais. During the Irish War of Independence, local companies of the Irish Republican Army took Trim RIC Barracks, a large structure located on the current site of the Castle Arch Hotel, secured the arms from the barracks and then burnt down the Barracks (1920). A large part of the town was burned as a reprisal by the British Crown forces.

A new bridge was built on the Boyne in the 1980s to divert heavy traffic from the town. This was then enhanced by the construction, in a series of stages, of an inner relief road, which now makes it possible for heavy trafic to achieve a complete by-pass of the town in a cost effective manner. The Watergate bridge was replaced in 2005. The local town council purchased a field beside the new bridge for historical purposes in 2004, as it was likely to be of high archaeological significance.

As part of the Civil Service decentralization plan of the Irish government, Trim was chosen as location of the headquarters for the state body known as the Office of Public Works. The movement of this state administration function to Trim resulted in Trim being the first location outside of Dublin, to complete a satisfactory decentralization move. Trim has seen considerable growth in recent years with a growing purpose as a tourist centre, and a town of vibrant businesses and cheerful locals.

Longwave radio station Atlantic 252's broadcasting station was situated in Trim throughout the 1990s. The station's former buildings are now home to Trim Town Council and Trim Area Committee, two of the administrative bodies within the County of Meath. The Norman Castle around which the town has evolved was used to depict York Castle in Mel Gibson's Braveheart.

Trim Castle is a famous historical site and was used as a backdrop in the making of the film Braveheart. Trim was also the setting for the first full-length Irish martial arts movie Fatal Deviation. The low-budget production, made in 1998 and starring James Bennett, is the story of a disenfranchised young man trying to rebuild his life after returning from reform school only to be harassed by a gang of local drug dealers. The drug dealers kidnap his girlfriend in order to force him to lose the Bealtaine Fighting Festival so they can keep their reputation and control of Trim. Fatal Deviation also marks the acting debut of Mikey Graham, from Irish boyband Boyzone, as Mikey Oprano. The 1980 movie The Big Red One, starring Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill, was also partially shot in Trim and in particular Trim Castle.