Four of the five castles here stand on or near the Boyne, which makes most of them easy to string together in a day. Trim Castle is the anchor: Ireland’s largest Norman fortress, begun by Hugh de Lacy in 1172 and used as a location for Braveheart. The grounds are free to walk, but the 20-sided keep can only be seen on an OPW guided tour, 86 steps up to the battlements. Tours cannot be pre-booked and sell out in summer, so come early. Downriver at Slane, the 1785 house is better known for what happens outside it; the natural amphitheatre above the river has held crowds of 80,000 since U2 played the first concert in 1981. House tours run by appointment, and there is a whiskey distillery in the old stables.
Between the two, on the eastern bank outside Navan, Athlumney Castle is a fifteenth-century tower house grafted onto a Tudor manor. It was burned twice on purpose, and the spiral stair and priest-hole are the reward for the small faff of borrowing the key from a nearby house.
Killeen and Dunsany sit beside each other in the south of the county and both need a drive. Killeen’s castle is closed while it is restored, with 2028 the plan, though the golf course, lodges and woodland trail stay open. Dunsany opens its interiors for guided tours over the summer only.
Ireland's largest Norman keep, with free grounds to walk and a 20-sided tower you can climb only on an OPW tour that sells out in summer.
A 1785 house above the Boyne that has drawn 80,000-strong crowds since 1981, with tours by appointment and a whiskey distillery in the stables.
A fifteenth-century tower house joined to a Tudor manor outside Navan, twice burned, with a spiral stair and priest-hole reached by borrowing a key.
Built around one of Ireland's two Jack Nicklaus Signature courses and a Solheim Cup venue, with grounds open while the castle itself is restored.
Held by the Plunketts since the early 1400s, with summer-only interior tours and a large rewilding project spreading native woodland across the demesne.
6 of 6 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Castle St, meath
Trim Castle is Ireland's largest Norman fortress, and its grounds are free to walk. The 20-sided keep – the setting for Braveheart – can only be climbed on an OPW guided tour, 86 steps up to battlement views over the Boyne. Tours can't be pre-booked and sell out in summer, so come early.
Slane, meath
Slane Castle has drawn crowds of 80,000 to a natural amphitheatre on the Boyne since U2 headlined the first concert here in 1981. The 1785 house, rebuilt after a 1991 fire, runs castle tours by appointment and a whiskey distillery in its old stables, across a 1,500-acre estate.
Navan, meath
A 15th-century tower house grafted onto a Tudor manor on the Boyne's eastern bank outside Navan. Two deliberate burnings, a spiral stair and a hidden priest-hole reward the small faff of borrowing the key from a nearby house.
Dunsany, meath
Killeen Castle is built around one of only two Jack Nicklaus Signature golf courses in Ireland, a Solheim Cup venue set on 600 acres in Dunsany, County Meath. The castle at its centre is closed while Romantic Castles of Ireland restores it, with a reopening planned for 2028; the grounds, lodges and woodland trail stay open.
Trim, meath
Trim grew around the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland, begun by Hugh de Lacy in 1172. Its cruciform Keep, the Yellow Steeple of St Mary's Abbey, the country's oldest surviving stone bridge and a riverside walk to Newtown make it an easy day out from Dublin.
Dunsany, meath
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