Sheep Gate
Town gate in Trim, Ireland
The Sheep Gate is a town gate in Trim, Ireland. It is a National Monument.
01History
The Sheep Gate is the only surviving gate of five that once provided access to Trim. The town wall and its gates were built in the 13th or 14th century. Sheep Gate may have been so named as a toll was charged here for sheep being brought in to be sold at market: in 1290, the murage and pavage tax was one penny per ten sheep, reduced to a farthing in 1308. The name could also derive from the archaic meaning of cheap, meaning "market" (cf. Cheapside). This name is not recorded before the 19th century; it may have been known as the Porch Gate, possibly from French porte ("door"), which may also give its name to the Porch Fields lying outside the city walls. The gate was locked between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.
02The gate
The gate was the southeastern entrance to the town, and is located just north of the River Boyne. Sheep Gate survives as a stone archway.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Sheep Gate”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Sheep Gate sunrise large print.jpg by Denis O'Donovan, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wakeman Trim Yellow Steeple and Sheep Gate.png by William Frederick Wakeman (d. 1900), Public domain
- Trim - Sheep Gate and Castle.jpg by Sheila1988, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sheeps Gate and Yellow Steeple at Trim Castle.jpg by Tom McG Park View, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Trim Castle - County Meath (3138577981).jpg by William Murphy from Dublin, Ireland, CC BY-SA 2.0
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