"Castle and Ruins near Dublin" - is actually Bective Abbey, Co Meath
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Where: Meath, Ireland
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When: Unknown
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I've been in Dublin for a long time now but this is not a castle or ruins that I am familiar with. It looks like it was a significant establishment in its day and would be a real attraction today(?) I look forward with interest to what you may be able to find about this...
.... And the reason it didn't look familiar (as a castle in or near Dublin) is that it is neither. It is not a castle - but an abbey. And is not in/near Dublin - but more than 30 miles from the capital in Bective, County Meath. The cataloguer may be forgiven however, as the abbey's "castle-like qualities" were seemingly why it was used as a filming-location for 'Braveheart' in the 1990s. Without Mel Gibson peering from a window however, dating may be difficult - not least given how remarkably little has changed in the 100 or so years since this image was captured :)
Photographer: Unknown
Collection: Eason Photographic Collection
Date: c.1900-1939 (possibly after c.1915 when some works were undertaken at the site)
NLI Ref: EAS_1727
You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie
Source: Flickr Commons
Views: 18389
.... And the reason it didn't look familiar (as a castle in or near Dublin) is that it is neither. It is not a castle - but an abbey. And is not in/near Dublin - but more than 30 miles from the capital in Bective, County Meath. The cataloguer may be forgiven however, as the abbey's "castle-like qualities" were seemingly why it was used as a filming-location for 'Braveheart' in the 1990s. Without Mel Gibson peering from a window however, dating may be difficult - not least given how remarkably little has changed in the 100 or so years since this image was captured :)
Photographer: Unknown
Collection: Eason Photographic Collection
Date: c.1900-1939 (possibly after c.1915 when some works were undertaken at the site)
NLI Ref: EAS_1727
You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie
Info:
Owner: National Library of Ireland on The CommonsSource: Flickr Commons
Views: 18389
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glassnegative
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castleruins
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bective
countymeath
possiblecataloguecorrection
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freedom
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braveheart
locationidentified
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Niall McAuley
I don't recognize it. It must surely be North or West county Dublin, the South is too built up and hilly?
Carol Maddock
Calling https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected], come in, https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]!
O Mac
Bective Abbey Co meath www.google.ie/maps/@53.5826232,-6.7047835,3a,75.7y,101.53... irelandinruins.blogspot.ie/2011/05/bective-abbey-co-meath...
BeachcomberAustralia
"Bective Abbey was used as a location during the shooting of the 1995 historical action-drama movie Braveheart." - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bective_Abbey
Niall McAuley
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]] Well done! We rarely get to match a Streetview this closely.
O Mac
Anyone know what those shrubs/trees with the "white" flowers are?
Niall McAuley
Very hard to date this one, unless some source mentions the rhododendrons!
Niall McAuley
Lots of interesting stuff about excavations.
BeachcomberAustralia
Flickr amazes again - https://www.flickr.com/photos/brittahoette/1395362821/ (in colour for https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/)
aidanhodson
Lilacs maybe?
BeachcomberAustralia
A droneview perspective of Bective (best from 4:55) - youtu.be/G4Nr58ou-ss
BeachcomberAustralia
Covered in vegetation! Earlier? - catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000043536/Image?lookfor=http:...
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
Excellent - thanks [https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]] - Have updated the title. As [https://www.flickr.com/photos/gnmcauley] notes, it's unusual that the StreetView matches so well. If we could apply an Instagram style B&W filter to StreetView, it would be a near perfect match. As Niall also mentions though, the "problem" with the close match is that perhaps we're unlikely to be able to refine the date range much. (Although, that said, in the way that Flickr amazes [https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia], the members of this stream always amaze me - on stuff like that.... :) )
CASSIDY PHOTOGRAPHY
A little off topic, however R.I.P. Séamus Máirtín Pacelli Mag Aonghusa, 23 May 1950 - 21 March 2017. He could have been Ireland's President.
derangedlemur
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] Late to the party again. This is part of the Heritage and Buns trail, and so is, as already pointed out by all and sundry, instantly recognisable as Bective Abbey.
oaktree_brian_1976
https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia thank you
O Mac
I thing the lack of ivy---- which can be seen in all the archives W.L. photographs of the Abbey is a clue to dating. When Robert French was there the Abbey was completely covered with the stuff. Also to be seen to a lesser extent in this Gallagher cigarette card from 1910. The OPW took over the care of ancient monuments from the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland in 1870's and the only record of Bective Abbey in their annual reports (pre 1922) is a mentions of works done in 1914-1915. (page 30) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jun. 30, 1916), pp. 46-57 describes in great detail a recent survey of the Abbey that could not have been undertaken had it been covered with ivy. There are also numerous detailing photographs included showing no ivy whatsoever. The article also refers to "recent work" done on the ruins. I surmise therefore that the OPW removed the ivy in 1914/15 and that this Eason was taken post then.
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
Thanks https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] - Sound logic. Have added a short note to the date label....
BeachcomberAustralia
Here it is in August 1939 via https://www.flickr.com/photos/swedish_heritage_board/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/swedish_heritage_board/50238977763/in/contacts/