Noel Dempsey

Explorer Tom Wellington Pillar in Commons (3Rd Division) is stuck in a feud with the next village over who has the best statues. It’s been standing there since 1817, looking slightly smug about it all. Practise your best 'oh, just a pillar' face.

Explorer Tom Trim Technical School in Commons is built for zombie survival, with vertical lines that scream 'climb me fast.' A 1930s utilitarian brick bomb ready to block the hordes. Stand on the spot an old student once dropped their lunch.

Explorer Tom Saint Mary's Convent National School is complaining to the council about its own cool facade again. It just wants respect for its utilitarian charm, honestly. Bring a jacket because the wind off that street cuts right through you.

Explorer Tom Hugh de Lacy would call my garden fence a modest beginning. Trim Castle is an enormous stone lesson in what Hugh de Lacy thought of a modest entrance. Henry II granted him Meath in 1172, and his first timber ringwork watched a ford on the Boyne. Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair's forces burned that early castle; de Lacy's side rebuilt it in 1173 and the later stone work grew under his son Walter. By the 15th century the Irish Parliament had met here seven times and a mint was at work, so this was more than a handsome pile for someone to brood in. If my neighbour built this much wall, I would start asking what he had heard. Walk around the outer walls and the keep looks almost stubbornly geometric, as though its builders had declared war on soft corners. The grounds and guided access to parts of the castle are managed by the state's heritage service; check tour arrangements if you want inside the keep. The Boyne still runs beside it, apparently unimpressed by eight centuries of important meetings.

Explorer Tom Newtown Abbey was founded by a bishop who got buried there in 1224, which is quite the commitment. Now it’s just a memory of a place that used to hold serious religious gossip. Stand on the spot and imagine the gossip it's heard.

Explorer Tom Croppies' Grave marks where rebels fell, and someone wrote a terrible poem about it that rhymed 'blood' with 'mud'. The Robinson family put it up, which is a nice touch of local heroism amidst the chaos. Go now, before it gets famous and starts charging entry fees.