Walls festival shows Trim heritage alive and well

Trim celebrated its heritage at the weekend with a day honouring the town's historic walls. Cathaoirleach of Trim Town Council, Cllr James O'Shea, said the council was very happy with the day's activities and looked forward to it becoming an annual event. He said Trim's walls were an "important part of the heritage of the town" and many other towns around the country had a town walls festival. "Trim now has one as well," he said. Cllr Donall O'Brien said it was a "fantastic day for the town" and showed that heritage was alive and well in Trim. "The turnout was a testament to the interest in heritage in the town," he said. "The event was a great success for the organisers and paid tribute to the organisers for putting on the event." Chief organiser Noel French said he was "very pleased with the response" to the event. Thousands of people attended the event held in the Castle car park and almost 3,000 people visited Trim Castle on the day. He thanked all the local organisations and people who helped out on the day. There was a regular stream of visitors to view the art exhibition by Sean Lawlor in the tourist office - Sean played Mel Gibson's father in the movie 'Braveheart', parts of which were filmed in Trim. Athboy Archery Club's display proved as popular as the jousting which took place on the day and Trim Tidy Town committee and Scurlogstown Olympiad played a major part in the event and a performance by Fit Kids Fit Teens received a great response. There were over 200 entries to the colouring competition, which featured a picture of a knight and Trim Castle. Performances by 'Elvis' and magician Joe Daly were popular with the crowd. There were queues all afternoon for the face-painting. Meath Writers' Circle and the Boyne Writers performed pieces of their work and Paddy Smith wrote a special monologue on the town walls for the event. Bouncing castles supplied by Looney Toons were kept bouncing all day, while canoeing and kayaking on the river were other popular attractions, as was the antiques and vintage fair. The guided tour of the town by Noel French attracted over 100 people, who viewed the castle, St Mary's Abbey and St Patrick's Cathedral, among other sites. The day was organised by Trim Town Council and Trim and District Chamber of Commerce Ltd, in association with Meath Heritage Centre, Heritage Office, Meath County Council and The Heritage Council.