Castle - motte

The National Monuments Service's description

On a small bluff, outcropping slightly from the break of slope between the steep slopes of the S side of the Nore river valley and the broad plateau to the S, in grassland. There are extensive views in all directions. It is described in the OS Letters (1839) as, 'a large moat' (O'Flanagan (ed.) 1930, vol. 2, 77 (26)) and by Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 196) as, 'a fine rath on the brow of a sharp incline; it is now known as Thornback Rath, but its old name was Donore, i.e., Dún-uabhair, the Fort of pride, or the proudly-situated Fort'.
The monument is heavily overgrown. It consists of a raised circular area (diam. c. 20m; H 4-5m) enclosed by a wide fosse (Wth 4m; D. c. 1.75m) and an outer bank (Wth 5m; ext H 1m). The outer bank is degraded at S and levelled on SW. The top of the platform is flat, however the W half is slightly higher and is defined by a low (H c. 0.3-0.5m) scarp running N-S across the centre.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 8 June 2020

References

Carrigan, Rev. W. 1905 (Reprint 1981) The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory, 4 vols. Kilkenny. Roberts Books and Wellbrook Press.

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Kilkenny collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1839. Bray.