8 Best Sights in Dublin Environs, Ireland

An attractive area south of Summerhill, Cnoc an Linsigh's forest walks and picnic sites are ideal for a half day of meandering. Many of the lanes that crisscross this part of County Meath provide delightful driving between high hedgerows, and afford occasional views of the lush, pastoral countryside.

In the village of Laracor, a wall to the left of the rectory marks the now-destroyed building where Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), the satirical writer, poet, and author of Gulliver's Travels, was rector from 1699 until 1713, when he was made dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Nearby are the walls of the cottage where Esther Johnson, the "Stella" who inspired much of Swift's writings, once lived.

East of Trim on the banks of the River Boyne, Newtown contains the ruins of what was once the largest cathedral in Ireland, built beginning in 1210 by Simon de Rochfort, the first Anglo-Norman bishop of Meath.

Part of Trim Castle and facing the river is the Royal Mint, a ruin that illustrates Trim's political importance in the Middle Ages. It produced coins with colorful names like "Irelands" and "Patricks" right up into the 15th century.

This church dates from early in the 19th century, but the square tower is from an earlier structure built in 1449. Bishops were enthroned here as early as 1536. The stained-glass window on the western side was the first commission of Edward Burne-Jones, the leading British Pre-Raphaelite.

One of the most pleasant villages of southern County Meath, Summerhill has a large square and a village green with a 15th-century cross.

The long-abandoned but still largely intact castle was once the largest Anglo-Norman fortress in Ireland. Trim Castle dominates present-day Trim from its 2½-acre site, which slopes down to the river's placid waters. Built by Hugh de Lacy in 1173, the castle was soon destroyed, then rebuilt from 1190 to 1220. The ruins include an enormous keep with 70-foot-high turrets flanked by rectangular towers. The outer castle wall is almost 500 yards long, and five D-shape towers survive. So impressive is the castle that it was used as a medieval backdrop in the movie Braveheart. You are free to roam the castle, but the admission price includes a house tour.

On a ridge overlooking Trim Castle, the Yellow Steeple was built in 1368 and is a remnant of the Augustinian abbey of St. Mary's. Founded in the 13th century, it was the site of a great medieval pilgrimage to a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Much of the tower was deliberately destroyed in 1649 to prevent its falling into Cromwell's hands, and today only the striking 125-foot-high east wall remains.