Heritage Keepers Project
Heritage Keepers Project
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Earlier on in the year the 6th class signed up to participate in the Heritage Keepers programme. This aim of this programme was to raise pupil's awareness of the heritage associated with their school and local area. Our pupils completed 6 zoom meetings with a Heritage Keepers co-ordinator and other schools partaking in the programme. Once completed each school was tasked with completing a project. We decided to explore the heritage and history of Delvin castle and the history of our school.
The story of Delvin Castle begins many years ago with the famous Scandinavian warriors, the Vikings. They travelled around much of Europe raiding and pillaging coastal monasteries and villages. Eventually some of the Vikings settled in Northern France in a place called Normandy during the beginning of the 9th century. Descendants of these first Viking settlers were the Normans. The name "Norman" is derived from "Norsemen" or "Northmen," referring to these settlers.
In the years that followed the Normans began to expand their lands and in 1169 they arrived in Ireland under the leadership of a famous Norman, Strongbow. The Normans defeated the old Irish chieftains who then fled their lands leaving behind the ordinary working people. The Normans saw Meath as an ideal location to establish castles and farming areas. By establishing a network of walled towns like Trim, Navan, and Kells, the Normans created a buffer zone against Gaelic raids from the north and west. Hugh De Lacey, a prominent Norman lord was granted the lordship of ‘Mide’ meaning middle, an area that includes today’s Westmeath, Meath and parts of Offaly and Longford. He built the famous Norman castle in Trim.
De Lacy granted land to some of his Barons in return for their loyalty and protection. One such Baron was Gilbert de Nugent who had a motte and timber castle built on the site between 1181 and 1185. A stone castle was built in place of the timber one and parts of it remain today. The location of the castle was of strategic importance as it was built on the main route between the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Uisneach. The ancient route linking the Hill of Tara in Meath and the Hill of Uisneach in Westmeath is largely defined by the Slige Mhór (Great Highway), one of the five ancient roads radiating from Tara.
The stone castle originally consisted of a central rectangular block with a five storey circular tower on each corner. Only half of the structure remains today as the north east section (including towers) was demolished many years ago. A private house and a shop now occupy the northern section of the site.
On our trip to the castle, Ruth pointed out a number of design features that would have been common in Norman built castles of the time. The Nugent's built their castle on a motte because it is a great defence mechanism. If enemies were trying to attack the castle, being on higher ground gave the Normans an advantage in battle. It also provided the Normans with a higher vantage point to see impending attacks.
There weren't many windows in the castle. The outer openings were quite narrow but were splayed outward on the inside, allowing the opening to widen towards the interior. This allowed soldiers on the inside to fire an arrow with a wide field of view whilst giving attackers a small target to hit from the outside. One downside to this design was there wasn't much light let into the castle so they used torches to light the castle. The torches were hung on the walls. Heavy curtains were hung over the windows to prevent cold winds blowing into the castle.
Despite its imposing look, daily life in the castle would not have been comfortable. The window openings were small and contained no light which meant that the castle was likely very cold and damp. Large open fires were lit for warmth and torches were lit to provide light. The Nugent family would have lived on the upper floors which would have also contained a large hall for banquets. Norman castle toilets, known as garderobes, were simple stone or wooden latrines built into small, closet-like chambers in exterior walls. Waste fell directly through a vertical shaft onto the ground outside. The lower floors were used for the Garrison and at one point, the castle was used as a gaol and the ground floor is still divided into cells.
Trails would have been held in the castle aswell and Ruth told us of one unusual trail where a man had stabbed another man during a game of football and the trail was to establich if he had stabbed him on purpose or if it was an accident.
The Nugent family would have eaten a diet of meats, such as mutton, beef and venison, vegetables grown locally as well as breads made from locally grown grains.
Christopher Nugent was one of the more famous Nugent barons. During his life he wrote an Irish phrasebook for the Queen on her request which had Irish words and their English and Latin translations. This helped the Queen at the time learn Irish and communicate with her Irish subjects. Unfortunately, Christopher was accused of treason towards the Queen and died in prison before his trial in 1602.
The Normans had a lasting effect on Irish life. Many words we use today like oranges, apples aswell as many common surnames all come from the Normans. Our legal system is based on the common law system which was introduced by the Normans in place of the Gaelic Brehon Law system.
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