A castle, which there is every reason to believe occupied the site of the present structure, was erected by Walter de Lacy in 1173, who had obtained from Henry II. a grant of Meath. During the absence of de Lacy, while the castle was in the custody of Hugh Tyrrell, it was attacked and demolished by Roderick O’Conor, King of Connaught. In Hanmer’s _Chronicle of Ireland_, the circumstances of its erection are thus given: ‘Anno 1220. Meath was wonderfully afflicted and wasted by reason of the private quarrels and civil warres between William, Earl Marshall, Earle of Pembroke, &c., and Sir Hugh de Lacy, Earle of Ulster and Lord of Connaught. Trimme was besieged and brought to a lamentable plight, and when the rage and fury of these garboiles were somewhat mitigated and appeased, after the shedding of much blood the same year, to prevent afterclaps and subsequent calamities, the castle of Trim was builded.’ * * * * * _Maynooth Castle._--The once great castle of Maynooth, erected in 1176 by Maurice FitzGerald, who came over with Strongbow, can be easily visited from Dublin. It is a fine example of the kind of structure which combined the baronial residence with the military fortress. The keep is of the original Norman work. The ground-floor, like that of Athenry Castle, and others of the same period, is divided into two large vaulted apartments, over which were state rooms of fine proportions. Bedrooms of various sizes occupied the upper portion of the tower. The servants and members of the household were accommodated in buildings stretching between the barbican of the outworks and a strong flanking tower which still remains. It is stated in Holinshed’s account of the sack of this Geraldine stronghold by Sir William Skeffington in 1553, as the result of Silken Thomas’ Rebellion, that ‘great and riche was the spoile, such store of beddes, so many goodly hangings, so riche a wardrob, such brave furniture, as truly it was accompted for householde stuffe and vtensils one of the richest Earle his homes under the crowne of Englande.’ It was again restored, and finally dismantled by the Irish troops of Owen Roe O’Neill in 1647.