The important strategic ” causeway ” which led from Trim to Athlone has been noticed in dealing with the early settlement. In the general decay of English power, this important line of communication with Connacht now disappears. This lead to the fall of the English regime.
The march of Bruce through the midlands must have contributed materially to the effects of the attacks upon it of the clans of Meath.
After the invasion these attacks were resumed by the chiefs of Meath* and O’Connor of Ui Failghe on the south, while from the north the O’Farrells cleared the settlers out of ” Anghaile.” Those who remained became independent of the English Crown, the influence of which was now driven east of the Boyne.