Castle - ringwork

The National Monuments Service's description

At the SE end of a hillock, surrounded by marshy wet terrain from E-S-W, c. 90m to the S of the properties facing onto the main street of the medieval borough of Granard (LF010-055----) and 500m E of the motte and bailey (LF010-080001-) and possible medieval church (LF010-055001-).
A raised almost circular area (c. 50m E-W; c. 48m N-S; H 1-1.8m) enclosed from SE-SSE-S and from SW-W-N by a bank of earth and stone (Wth 3m; H 0.2-1.8m) and elsewhere defined by a scarp (H 1 1.8m). The remains of a berm (Wth 6m; D 0.15m) from SW-W appear to indicate that the hillock was cut into and levelled to create the raised platform. There is no evidence of any enclosing fosse or of the original entrance. A livestock gap is visible in the S half.
The wetland siting of this monument is atypical of a ringfort. Its location in the centre of the possible medieval borough suggests that it may be the site of an Anglo-Norman manor house or the fortified residence of a high-status family of the borough. However, it is very similar morphologically to the excavated ringfort (RO022-114003-) and tower house (LF022-114011-) at Tulsk, county Roscommon (Brady 2011, 309-10).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 28 March 2012