THE TOWN OF TRIM

Photographed By William Murphy

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THE PRIORY OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST REF-226380-1

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St STEPHEN’S DAY 2023

This Christmas I spent three days in Trim County Meath and it rained most of the time. On Wednesday the 27th it was so wet and stormy that it was impossible to take any photographs so I returned to Dublin ahead of schedule. As my Canon 5DIII performs very well in wet weather I decided to bring it with me instead of me rather than my Sony A7RIV or FX30. Another advantage it is fitted with a GPS unit.

Founded by the renowned Bishop Simon de Rochfort in 1202, the Priory was initially home to the Order of the Crutched Friars, a group of pious men dedicated to ministering to the sick and the poor. Over the centuries, the Priory evolved into a hub of spiritual and social activity, providing solace and support to the community.

The Priory’s architecture bears witness to its diverse history. The imposing three-story tower, dating back to the 15th century, hints at its role as a defensive structure. The graceful nave and chancel of the church, with their striking three-light window, speak to the Priory’s sacred purpose.

In 1540, the Priory’s fortunes took a dramatic turn during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a series of events that scattered monastic communities across Ireland. The Priory’s buildings were commandeered for various purposes, including a residence and a hospital.

Despite its turbulent past, the Priory of St. John the Baptist remains a captivating sight. Today, its ruins stand as a testament to the enduring spirit of Trim and its enduring connection to Ireland’s rich history.

THE PRIORY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

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PHOTOGRAPHED ON SAINT STEPHEN’S DAY 2022

Saint Stephen’s Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint’s day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Christianity.

As already mentioned I used a recently introduced [at the time] Sony FX30 camera when I visited Trim in County Meath last Christmas. At the time I did not realise that it was not possible to process the RAW files until well into 2023 … I do not know why there was such a delay. When I did manage to process the files I was not happy with the resulting images and decided to wait until now [22 November 2022] to see if I could get better results using a variety of tools including some some Beta applications.

St. John’s Priory was established by Simon Rochfort, Bishop of Meath, c. 1202 for the Crutched Friars. The first record of the priory is in 1281 when there was a grant of alms from the manor of “Magathtreth.”

In 1513 Edmund Dillon was prior of this monastery; his brother Thomas Dillon was prior of Saints Peter and Paul’s at the time. Their brother Robert was granted the priory at the 1540 Dissolution of the Monasteries. At the time the priory consisted of a church, two towers, a hall, storehouse, kitchen, brewhouse, two granaries, a dovecote and a haggard (stackyard). There were 90 acres (36 ha) of arable land near the Boyne, land and a mill on the Leinster Blackwater, a castle and land at Longwood, County Meath and various other lands in the county.

He later sold it to the Ashe family. After they abandoned it, it was supposedly granted to the Catholic Bishop of Meath. After the Battle of the Boyne (1690) the building was granted to one of King William’s men. According to one story, on his first night in the holy spot he saw a “most horrid vision” and at dawn he rode away never to return.

The site was excavated by David Sweetman in 1984, who found the remains of a 15th-century rood screen and a doorway in the gable end of the nave.

The hospitals of the Crutched Friars were built similar to all Canons Regular monasteries, but with special facilities for caring for the sick. One of the buildings shows the remains of a chute disposing of waste material into the river.

Among the remains is a church with nave and chancel and a large three-light window in the east wall. Part of a long two-storey building remains, as does a 15th–16th century enclosing wall with a corner turret. There is also a 15th-century three-storey tower which is vaulted above ground level and forms part of the defensive wall.

THE MAUDLIN CEMETERY FEATURING OUR LADY OF TRIM BY CHRISTOPHER RYAN

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CHRISTMAS 2022

In Ireland maudlin means self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness.

The statue was commissioned by a local committee in 1976. Christopher Ryan of the Barrenhill Gallery, Howth, designed the statue which was cast in bronze by the Dublin art Foundry. The Barrenhill Gallery was operated by Elizabeth and Christopher Ryan from 1970 to 1976 at Barrenhill House, Bailey, Howth, Co. Dublin.

St. Mary’s Abbey was home to “Our Lady of Trim”, a wooden statue reported to work miracles. The statue made Trim a major pilgrimage site from at least 1397. During the Reformation, the statue was burned and Henry VIII dissolved the abbey. The abbey’s bell tower, the “Yellow Steeple”, is the primary remnant of St. Mary’s.

The Maudlin Cemetery which was the site of the Leper Hospital of Mary Magdalene, and later a cemetery which was used as a burial ground for the poor who died in the workhouse.

I have visited the Trim many times as my mother’s immediate family live in Trim or are from the area but I was unaware of this old cemetery until I came across at Christmas 2022.

The word ‘maudlin’ comes from the old French, Latin and Greek words for Magdalen, but Chamber’s and other accepted dictionaries state that St. Mary Magdalen has been erroneously identified with ‘The Penitent Woman’ of St. Luke’s Gospel Chapter 7 verse 38. ‘maudlin’ means ‘sickly with eyes swollen with tears ‘, and the painters of bygone days portrayed a woman said to be St. Mary Magdalen with large tear filled bloodshot eyes meant to show how sorry she was for her past sinful life. At a later date we get the expression ‘Maudlin with drink’.

The Maudlin graveyard was visited at the end of the 19th century by Lord Walter Fitzgerald and members of the Society for the study of the memorials of the dead and in Vol. V1 page 595 of their journal for the year 1892 Lord Walter gives us an account of their findings. The following is an extract…… “This burial ground contains the old church of St. Mary Magdalen of which the chancel arch still survives. It is situated close to the town of Trim on its south side and seems now to be only used as a burial place for paupers who die in the trim workhouse nearby. Only two tombstones seem to have survived and they are situated to the east of the church ruins”. The account goes on to give a reading of the inscriptions on these two tombstones which is helpful as now both inscriptions are almost illegible through neglect.

TRIM CATHEDRAL IN COUNTY MEATH

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PHOTOGRAPHED CHRISTMAS DAY 2016

As far as I can remember this was the only time that I gained access to this church as the gates have been locked every other time that I have visited Trim. As there was a service underway I was unable to explore the interior of the building … I returned the next day but the gate was chained.

The Cathedral Church of St Patrick, Trim is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Trim, County Meath, Ireland. Previously the cathedral of the Diocese of Meath, it is now one of two cathedrals in the United Dioceses of Meath and Kildare which is part of the ecclesiastical province of Dublin.

The tower is a remnant of the medieval parish Church of Trim.

Walter de Brugge, an English-born judge, was appointed vicar of St. Patrick’s in 1381. Robert Dyke, a very senior Crown official and future Lord Treasurer of Ireland, became vicar in 1435. Philip Norris, the notably controversial and outspoken Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, was vicar here in the 1440s and 1450s.

Bishops have been enthroned here since 1536 but it was not raised to Cathedral status until 1955.

The tower clock commemorates Dean Butler, the historian of Trim. Stained glass in the West window was the first-ever stained glass designed by Edward Burne-Jones. In 1992 the cathedral was re-roofed and beams renewed in the gallery.

NEWTOWN ABBEY AND NEARBY ST STEPHEN’S DAY

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THE CATHEDRAL OF ST PETER AND PAUL IN NEWTOWN TRIM

SAME LOCATION ON CHRISTMAS DAY
RELIGION AND RELATED TOPICS

Newtown Abbey is a medieval monastery and National Monument located in Trim, County Meath and it is a much visited location at Christmas. I visited the location on Christmas Day as well as today the 26th December.

It is Saint Stephen’s Day here in Ireland but it is known as Boxing Day in the United Kingdom. I mentioned this as a number of people asked me how do we celebrated Boxing Day here in Ireland.

Saint Stephen’s Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint’s day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Christianity. The Eastern Orthodox churches that adhere to the Julian calendar mark Saint Stephen’s Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which places it on 9 January of the Gregorian calendar used in secular contexts. In Latin Christian denominations, Saint Stephen’s Day marks the second day of Christmastide.

It is an official public holiday in Alsace-Moselle, Austria, the Balearic Islands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Switzerland and Newfoundland. The date is also a public holiday in those countries that celebrate Boxing Day on the day in addition to or instead of Saint Stephen’s Day, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

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