History Hit’s Matt Lewis travels through Ireland, discovering its spectacular castles, from ancient legendary hilltops to Norman keeps and mighty medieval citadels.

In the first episode we head to the High King’s of Ireland seat of power, the Hill of Tara, before investigating the Norman invasions and the powerful structures they built…castles!

Matt begins at the Hill of Tara, or in Irish Teamhair or Cnoc na Teamhrach, an ancient site for projecting spiritual and political power. Matt reveals the mystical stories of the High King’s of Ireland, including the formative leader Brian Boru. But it’s not just Boru who has a direct link to Tara, one of Ireland’s most famous people is said to have come here…St Patrick. Patrick is believed to have performed miracles challenging the old pagan rulers, bringing christianity to the island of Ireland. Tara remains a magical place, even today.

But Ireland wasn’t to be ruled by High Kings forever...In 1167 the Normans invaded. For years they fought for control. By 1176 they gained enough land to cement their power in stone…in castles!

Matt heads to one of the biggest castles in Ireland, Trim. Trim sat on the frontier of Ireland, a symbol of English dominance over the Irish populace. It was built by the Norman Lord, Hugh De Lacy. De Lacy used Trim as his powerbase to control this area of Ireland through force and ideology. The Normans portrayed the Irish as barbaric people who they should conquer and ‘civilise’. Matt explores an incredible ancient manuscript that reveals exactly this. The Topographia Hibernica could be called the first piece of colonial propaganda in Ireland, aiming to justify the subjugation of of Irish land and people. But it wasn’t just through ideology and propaganda that the Normans could invade this green isle, it was the weapons and force they brought with them too - Matt discovers the brutal weapons that backed up their fortresses.
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Love Castles and want to find out more? Gone Medieval has got an entire 4 part series all about Castles, including the amazing Trim. Listen here:
https://podfollow.com/gone-medieval/episode/c8119c483e15ee7504ec056271717036297fc8b5/view
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Explore the sites we visited below:
Hill of Tara: https://heritageireland.ie/places-to-visit/hill-of-tara/
Trim Castle: https://heritageireland.ie/visit/places-to-visit/trim-castle/
The National Library of Ireland: https://www.nli.ie/