1220 – Trim Castle, Co. Meath

Trim Castle was started in 1172, shortly after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland. King Henry II granted his baron Hugh de Lacy the Kingdom of Meath, along with custody of Dublin. It is the largest Anglo-Norman fortification in Ireland. Hugh de Lacy and his successors took over 30 years to build it.

The central fortification is a monumental three-storey keep. This massive 20-sided tower, which is cruciform in shape, was all but impregnable in its day. It was protected by a ditch, curtain wall and water-filled moat. The design of this central three-storey keep is unique for a Norman keep being of cruciform shape.

The curtain wall, punctuated by towers and a gatehouse, fortified an area of about 3 acres. Most of the castle visible today was completed by around 1220. The surviving curtain walls are predominantly of three phases. The west and north sides are defended by rectangular towers, including the Trim Gate, dating to the 1170s; the Dublin gate was erected in the 1190s or early part of the 13th century; and the remaining wall to the south with its round towers dates to the first two decades of the 13th century. The castle has two main gates. The one in the west side dates to the 1170s. The upper stories of the stone tower were altered to a semi-octagonal shape, c. 1200.

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