The Yellow Steeple is the ruined 40-metre bell tower of St Mary's Abbey, on the north bank of the Boyne facing the castle. The abbey, supposedly founded by Saint Patrick, became an Augustinian house and was burned several times over. In the late Middle Ages it held a statue of the Virgin Mary that drew pilgrims from across Ireland; the statue was burned at the Dissolution and the abbey wrecked. The tower gets its name from the way it catches the evening sun.
Next to it is Talbot Castle, a fortified manor house of 1415 built with stone from the abbey; it is private, but you can see it from outside. The area around the steeple is free to wander at any time, and the footbridge by the castle gets you there in a couple of minutes.