The tower by which the ‘Sheep’ Gate of Trim was once surmounted no longer exists. The adjacent wall seems to have suffered a like denudation. A lofty structure figured in the distance, the belfry of St. Mary’s Abbey,[130] is of a late period of Gothic architecture.
The ‘Sheep’ Gate and Yellow Steeple, Trim, Co. Meath.
Portions yet remain of the walls and flanking towers of Athenry, in the County Galway; but they are much dilapidated. One of the gateways still stands, through which the road entering the town now runs. It was originally defended by two towers, one of which has fallen; but the other has been preserved by the insertion of an archway spanning the road. In recent times it was with difficulty saved from destruction, a road contractor desiring to have it for the sake of the material; and that in one of the stoniest districts in Ireland. Concerning this structure there was a tradition amongst the neighbouring people that it was some time or other to fall upon the wisest man in Ireland. But the selfish official who coveted the stones seems to have had no fear on that account for his personal safety when passing beneath the arch, and, in reply to a gentleman who strongly objected to the proposed removal of the tower, on account of its interesting antiquity, he is said to have scouted the idea, declaring that any antiquity it ever possessed had gone long ago!
Kilmallock retains two of its four gates and much of its walls, which are in a fair state of preservation, and date from the reign of Edward III. These gates were very strong, and in times of need might have served as castles. In Clonmel the west gate is the only one now standing of four, and the remains of the walls surround the churchyard. Of the walls and gateways of Galway but a few pieces stand. These dated from 1270, and as late as 1651 the walls were perfect, with fourteen towers and as many gateways. Little of the four gates and walls which surrounded New Ross now remain; but one of the towers defending the wall still stands.
The walls of Londonderry, the most perfect in Ireland, are comparatively recent—they were raised in 1609—and have now seven gates. The walls and towers of Limerick were of very early date, and King John’s Castle is one of the finest Norman fortresses in the kingdom. The north tower is the most ancient; and it still possesses the original gateway. Since 1760, when the walls and ramparts were abandoned as defences, they have been allowed to decay, and much of them were removed for public convenience. A fine gateway may also be seen at Carrickfergus Castle, showing all the usual defensive appliances, portcullis, embrasures, and openings for dropping missiles or molten lead. The keep is also perfect, and has walls 9 feet thick.
The citizens of Dublin, generally, are not aware that patches of their old walls, including one gate or bar, still remain. The gateway is called St. Audoen’s Arch, and may be seen close to the ancient church of the same name. It is a fragment of an inner wall built by the citizens during the invasion of Ireland by Edward Bruce, at a time when he lay encamped at Castleknock, and daily threatened the city. The adjoining portion of the wall is here high and strong; but the gate-tower has been lowered almost down to its arch.
Of the structure whose origin is ascribed to Meyler Fitz Henry, but completed by Archbishop Henry de Loundres, A.D. 1223, a portion may possibly be concealed beneath the piles of modern edifices which represent the present Castle of Dublin. The Castle presents little that is of interest to the architectural antiquary, except he finds it in the massive walls of the Record Tower, the oldest portion of the group of buildings between the Castle yards.
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Bridges.—That the Irish at an early period were in the habit of constructing bridges and causeways over rivers, or from the mainland to an island, or from one island to another, is a fact recorded in the ‘Annals’; and we are not wholly without some existing remains of that interesting class of structures. We read that in A.D. 1054 a bridge was built over the Shannon, at Killaloe, by Turlogh O’Brien. This work was no doubt of timber. It had probably been long decayed or destroyed when Richard de Clare obtained possession of the greater part of that county which still bears his name. But the ford was not so easily obliterated, and Killaloe was for a considerable time called ‘Claresford’ by the English. The little island of Begerin, near Wexford, was formerly connected with another island by a causeway, described by Mr. G. H. Kinahan as consisting of two rows of oak piles, set four feet apart, with about five feet between each pair. ‘On these piles,’ he remarks, ‘there would seem to have originally been longitudinal and transverse beams.’[131] St. Ibar, who died in A.D. 500, had a church and monastery in Begerin, so that there is every probability that this bridge or causeway may be referred to a very early date. The islands of Devenish and Inismacsaint, in Lough Erne, both of which were monastic sites in the sixth century, had similar communications with the mainland. A number of the piles at the latter island may still be seen when the water is low. Many of the lake-dwellings, or crannogs, were, as we have seen, furnished with causeways connecting them with the mainland, or with neighbouring islets.