The Ham Nomads

19 Jun 2014. <IE> Trim, Co. Meath; Tullamore, Co. Offaly; Rathkeale, Co. Limerick —

Trim Castle from across the River Boyne

Yellow Steeple

Manor House

Woke up outside Bective Castle after a really peaceful night. The cows in the field beside us were still in a semi-somnolent state, and the farmer was walking among them doing what appeared to be a daily census. We had breakfast, and on the way into trim called in to a Supermac's to check up on a couple of urgent emails — but it was too early for them! So we went on into Trim, parking in exactly the same spot as yesterday (about 100m from the Castle entrance, and at the end of the town's main street. Susie organized a hair shampoo at a nearby salon for later that morning, then we went across the road to Rachel's Cafe, which had good coffee and the WiFi access we needed. We then walked the Castle grounds and nearby areas for an hour before Susie had her hair done. There's a manor house very near the 'Yellow Steeple', the remains of the seven-storey church tower of St Mary's Augustinian Abbey. The abbey is all but gone, its stones having been robbed to build the manor house. This manor was the domicile of a number of eminent people, including Jonathan Swift and the mathematician William Rowan Hamilton (the originator of quaternions).

Another claim to fame for Trim is that is was the birthplace of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington (of English parents). There is a monument to him on the other side of town!

Anyway, we had to bid farewell to Trim, as today was the day we had determined to return to Rathkeale, Co. Limerick, for the work to be done on our van. The Garmin gave a journey estimate of 3½ hours, so we had to get cracking. We just got in and drove. A very pleasant day for driving, sunny and warm.

Charleville Castle

On our way, we decided to stop for lunch. We paused at Tullamore, or more exactly, at Charleville Forest Park just outside Tullamore. There is a road into the forest, used extensively by walkers (the number of potholes make it ill suited for much else!) and at the end you find Charleville Castle, a strange castle built in 1745, which is quite late. The two towers at the front of the building are wildly different, the one at the left being circular in section and very tall, the one on the right being octagonal and much shorter. For some reason, the left tower is called the Male Tower;, and the right, the Female Tower. We got talking to some people in the grounds, who were obviously setting up for a concert. There was to be a free concert the following night, with free camping in the grounds. Would have been fun, but we needed to get on to Rathkeale. This castle is now an educational institution. Apparently, since 9/11 it has been used by the FBI to have its operatives taught the basics of culture so they can fit in better with European (and other) civilisation.

After lunch, we pressed on. Towards the end, we were coming into familiar territory — Adare, and then Rathkeale. We reached Cara Motor Homes at about 4.30, in time to discuss the work for tomorrow, and to arrange to stay in the grounds overnight — which we did.

Distance driven — today, 139 miles ( 223 km ); to date, 2,862 miles ( 4,606 km )