Colonel Fenwicke occupied the fortress with a regiment of foot and some troops of horse in 1647. It was in the Royalists’ hands until the fall of Drogheda, in 1649, and the garrison disobeyed the Duke of Ormond’s instructions to destroy the place before letting it fall into the hands of Sir Charles Coote and his army.
It is stated that the yellow steeple near having been treacherously delivered into the hands of the Cromwellians, was used as a vantage point to make the castle untenable, and that afterwards when the Governor of the castle was reinstated he had one side of the tower blown up. It was in a sally from the town of Trim that Sir Charles Coote lost his life.
It is reported Cromwell-spent one night in the castle, but there is no evidence that this is the case.
Adam Loftus sold the castle to Sir James Shean in 1666, and it seems to have been in military occupation in 1690. The whole property was purchased by the Wellesleys, who afterwards sold it to Colonel Leslie.
R. Butler, “Castle of Trim.” W. Wilde, “The Boyne and Blackwater.” E. Evans, “Trim.” P. Joyce, “Irish Place Names.”
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Castles of Ireland, by C. L. (Constance Louisa) Adams