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 it today.
In 1892 Lord Walter Fitzgerald produced an account of this cemetery and here is a short 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”.
I think that there are a few Maudlin Cemeteries in Ireland but I know, without doubt, that there is one in Naas which I have yet to photograph. The name is archaically spelled Maudlings; derives from Mary Magdalene, often depicted in art as mourning for Jesus after his crucifixion, and thus associated with burial grounds (cf. maudlin).
Despite some rather depressing forecasts the weather was excellent and I was able to photograph the town in detail. On Christmas day, which was very cold, my camera battery which was fully charged expired after about an hour which came as a great surprise so I had to use my iPhone 12 Pro Max [I use this as a camera rather than a phone] and the battery did not lass long but I was able to photograph Trim Castle and nearby. I have yet to determine what caused the batteries to under perform.
Few places in Ireland contain more medieval buildings than the heritage town of Trim. Trim Castle is foremost among those buildings.
In fact, the castle is the largest Anglo-Norman fortification in Ireland. Hugh de Lacy and his successors took 30 years to build it.
The central fortification is a monumental three-storey keep. This massive 20-sided tower, which is cruciform in shape, was all but impregnable in its day. It was protected by a ditch, curtain wall and water-filled moat.
Modern walkways now allow you to look down over the interior of the keep – a chance to appreciate the sheer size and thickness of the mighty castle walls.
The castle is often called King John’s Castle although when he visited the town he preferred to stay in his tent on the other side of the river. Richard II visited Trim in 1399 and left Prince Hal later Henry V as a prisoner in the castle.
“Feck” (occasionally spelled “fek” or “feic”) is a word that has several vernacular meanings and variations in Irish English, Scots, and Middle English.
The most popular and widespread modern use of the term is as a slang expletive in Irish English, employed as a less serious alternative to the expletive “fuck” to express disbelief, surprise, pain, anger, or contempt. It notably lacks the sexual connotations that “fuck” has,.
It is also used as Irish slang meaning “throw” (e.g. “he fecked the remote control across the table at me”.)
It has also been used as a verb meaning “to steal” (e.g. “they had fecked cash out of the rector’s room”) or to discover a safe method of robbery or cheating.
The Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted (1995–1998) helped to popularise the use of “feck” outside of Ireland (particularly in the UK, where Channel 4 is based) through liberal use of the word by alcoholic priest Father Jack.
In a 1998 interview on Nickelodeon, an appearance by the teenage Irish girl group B*Witched prompted a viewer complaint alleging that one of its members had said “fuck off” on air. Nickelodeon maintained that the singer had in fact said “feck off”, which they described as “a phrase made popular by the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted”, but the phrase was still found to be in breach of the ITC Programme Code and the complaint was thus upheld.
In 2004, clothing retailer French Connection UK (best known for its infamous “FCUK” T-shirt) won a legal injunction in Dublin that barred a local business from printing and selling a T-shirt marked “FCEK: The Irish Connection”.
In 2008, the Irish cider brand Magners received complaints relating to an advert it had posted around the UK in which a man tells bees to “feck off”, with members of the public concerned that young children could be badly influenced by it. Magners claimed that the “feck off” mention in the advert was a “mild rebuff” to the bees rather than an expletive. The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the poster was suitable for display.
Perfect Roast Potatoes The most important thing to remember for perfect potatoes is not to roast them too long in advance as they lose their crunch if you keep them waiting. Start by par-boiling the peeled potatoes for 6-8 minutes. Drain well and leave to dry out in the saucepan for a few minutes.
Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200C (400F)
Heat some olive oil in a roasting pan. Shake the potatoes around in the saucepan to roughen up the edges – this will give you nice crispy bits when they are cooked. Then add them to the hot oil in the roasting pan. Cook for 30-40 minutes.
Braised Celery Wash and trim the celery stalks and cut into strips approx. 4cm long. Place in a saucepan with a knob of butter and salt and pepper. Barely cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes. Drain well and serve.
Mashed Potatoes Simmer peeled potatoes until just soft. Drain and keep warm. Heat a little milk with a generous knob of butter. Beat it into the potatoes along with some chopped parsley, until the potatoes are smooth and creamy. Season well.
Roasted Carrots, Parsnips and Red Onions Heat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200C (400F).
Chop the carrots, parsnips and red onion into cubes. Toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread them out in a single layer on a roasting pan and cook for 20-30 minutes until tender.
Brussel Sprouts Trim the sprouts and place in a saucepan of boiling water with a little salt. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5-8 minutes depending on the size of the sprouts. While they are cooking, brown some diced bacon in a little olive oil.
Drain the sprouts well, then toss them in the pan with the cooked bacon. Season with black pepper and serve.
If you examine many of my recent photographs you will notice lots of gulls.
I purchased an Epson ET-4800 printer a few weeks ago. I thought that I had purchased from Epson in Ireland but it was shipped from the UK to Germany and then to Ireland and then it took the delivery company six days to find my apartment despite having the correct Eircode. Since Brexit shipping from the UK has become more than a bit difficult.
Setting up the printer was simple enough but when I printed some test photographs I discovered that birds at a distance look like specks of dust on the prints and this is really annoying.
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