Reconnecting with My Ancestors at Trim Castle

As soon as I had the opportunity to go on a solo press trip to Ireland, I told Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland that a visit to Trim Castle was an absolute must. Fans of the movie Braveheart may think that’s my main inspiration for my visit, but I haven’t seen the film. Instead, I wanted to come here for a more personal reason:

Because my ancestors built it.

Or so I’ve been told my whole upbringing, anyway.

The architect of the castle, Hugh de Lacy, has a statue of himself out in front of the castle, and it is through him and his son Walter that I’d be some sort of “heir” to the throne.

Okay, that role wouldn’t go to me at all, in the slightest. I’m the first son of the third son born to a woman who’s however far she is down the line. I probably wouldn’t even be let into the kingdom, but it’s still fun to think about, and it’s still a cool badge to wear.

Now that I’ve experienced the castle for myself, I feel a little more connected to my history and to my late dad. I even had a moment to heal as I spread the tail hair of my late dog around the grounds, as I had to put her down right before my trip.

And, honestly, the castle is iconic.

Staying at The Trim Castle Hotel

Upon arrival in Trim, I was surprised at how much the little town actually had going on in it. The drive to it felt remote and sometimes even scary, especially considering I’d already gotten into an accident once and didn’t really have it in me to make that a duel experience.

I arrived at the Trim Castle Hotel in one piece with no other scratches and was instantly impressed with my view of the castle from my room. It was the only time in Ireland I had a hard time shutting my blinds before going to bed because I just wanted the view of the castle the entire time I drifted off to sleep.

Admittedly, the dinner at the hotel was the only time I had anyone give me the tiniest bit of grief for being sponsored. Granted, I accidentally left my voucher in my room, which I could have easily gone, but I wound up having to e-mail the hotel my full itinerary just to prove I was to get what I was asking for — even though the receptionist had no issues seeing this for herself.

Regardless, I had a nice meal, complete with a chicken Caesar salad and a lamb dish. I had a couple of Guinness’s along with it, but that was mostly because I found a fondness for the beer during my stay in Galway.

Exploring the Trim Castle

After a brief stay at the hotel, I paid the castle a proper visit in the morning before I headed out to finish my Ireland trip in Dublin.

Upon arrival, I had another little snag, as the guide meant to take me through the castle, Susan, told me she’d had me pegged down for the week before. I didn’t have any booking references or anything on my end, so I had to pull out my itinerary again for proof. The problem was that there was a school coming in at the same time, and I guess it’s “illegal” to have a tour at the same time.

In the end, she told me she’d let me “pop in” and wound up giving me the tour anyway, but it was a hiccup that almost landed me on a public tour. Of course, there are far worse things, but this was the only thing I wanted to do on this trip, and going from a private tour of a castle your family built to being squished in with the public where everyone gets in your shots didn’t sound as appealing.

The castle, however, was amazing, and it inspired my book The Fires of Hell and the rest of that series. We’ll see if I ever get around to finishing those, but it was incredible to see such a large castle in various stages of ruins and to see how people lived back then compared to now.

Having seen the castle in person, I’ll also have to actually watch Braveheart so I can compare how it looked in real life versus on screen, which is always fun to do.

Spreading Piper’s Ashes

For the months leading up to my Ireland trip, I debated putting my dog down. She was getting older, her legs were giving out, and there were other signs that her quality of life was just going downhill. As a 14-year-old German Shepherd, she also outlived her life expectancy by a few years, but I wasn’t fully ready to let her go.

That said, she started losing bladder control right before I left, and I knew there wasn’t any “getting better” for her. I had told her she could either die before my Ireland trip or after, but she couldn’t go during. Although I’m sure she wouldn’t have died in the week I was gone, I’d have spent most of the time worrying for her, and I would have had to come home to make the decision sooner rather than later anyway.

Another reason I had wanted the time alone in the castle was because I wanted to scatter some of her hair around the grounds to keep her with me on the journey. I had originally gotten her after my trip to New Zealand to deal with my post-trip depression, and she joined me on an epic cross-country road trip around the United States. Even though I never finished out all the ones she hadn’t seen with her, she still had an incredible life that I can’t say was gone too soon.

Regardless, it felt cathartic to be able to do that, and I felt her spirit there with me along with my dad’s in the ruins of our family castle. It’s an experience I will truly never forget.

Finding inspiration in the rubble

At the end of it all, I’m the most happy about my ability to visit the Trim Castle and have the moments I needed to both heal and grieve. Walking the premises of the castle itself is free and doesn’t require a tour, so I hung around for a couple of hours after I visited the keep and continued my inward reflection and journey.

Rumor has it in our family that we also had a family crest and sword somewhere along the way, and I’m just bummed I never got to see that. Susan told me a lot about the type of real-life battles that had happened at the castle, and it made me realize I come from a line of warriors who are always willing to defend what’s rightfully theirs and stand up for what they believe in.

I’m also happy this castle is open to the public now, which didn’t happen until the early 2000s. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the opportunity to come back here again, but I’m sure glad I took it when I had the chance because it was the most memorable few hours of my trip.