Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Castle - motte
Ballymore Eustace East (ballymore Eustace Ed), County Kildare, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Ballymore Eustace East (ballymore Eustace Ed)
- County
- Kildare
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 53.13425, -6.61162
- SMR number
- KD029-011003-
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Possibly at the N edge of Ballymore Eustace, a historic town (KD029-011001-), where ‘Close Hill’ is named on the OS 25-inch map and shown as a steep-sided subcircular earthwork (base diams. c. 25m NE-SW; upper surface diams. c. 12m NE-SW; c. 10m NW-SE). According to Counihan (1991, 58-9), ‘The section drawing [done by the architect Basil Stallybrass sometime between 1901 and 1906] shows the deliberate scarping of Close Hill and confirms the location of the motte site. Basil's notes mention Close Hill, a circular mound - no bailey, height 35 ft (c. 10.7m) - a terrace on the top larger one side than the other'. According to Bradley et al. (1986, vol. 1, 76), Close Hill is a conical mound (H 20m; summit diam. 9m), the upper 3-4m of which appear to be the result of artificial heightening. The N side has been quarried for gravel. The summit is uneven, and there is a lower (D 1.5m) sloping platform on the W (Wth 6-7m). Large stones and blocks, with traces of mortar, in the enclosing field wall suggest the presence of a significant masonry structure, possibly an Anglo-Norman masonry castle (KD029-011005-), on the motte.
Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy
Date of upload: 30 August 2013
References
Counihan, J. 1991, Mottes, Norman or not! Fortress 11, 53-60
Nearby in the register
- Historic townunder 1 mi
- Cross-slabunder 1 mi
- Crossunder 1 mi
- Cross - High crossunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.