Castle - motte

The National Monuments Service's description

A roughly circular mound (max. diam. c. 51m at base, c. 29m at top, H 5.8m-6.8m) with remains of fosse (max. Wth at top 11.5m, Wth at base 2m) all around. There is a large bank (Wth c. 3.7m originally, now max. Wth 7.2m) outside the fosse from NE-NW. The surface of the top of the mound is uneven and slopes downwards towards the centre where it has been quarried. Stone facing can be seen in the S face of the mound in its mid section. The outside of the bank is faced with drystone work, probably modern, which extends across the fosse at the W and NE sides of the mound and forms a facing to the base of the motte where the bank is absent. The site was partially excavated in 1872 (Reade 1875, 322), and pottery and a bronze prick spur were found near the base of the mound. A souterrain (LH006-073002-) is situated in the W portion of the motte and another (LH006-072----) is c. 50m to the W. (Orpen 1908, 254-5; M W 1908, 85; Wright 1758, bk I, pl. VI)

The above description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 17 July 2007

References

M W 1908 Louthiana: Ancient and Modern - Mount Ash. County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society Journal, vol. 2, 1, 85.

Reade, Rev. G. H. 1874-5 Proceedings: On a prick-spur of bronze gilt, found in the Mound of Ash, Co. Louth. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 13, 322-26.

Orpen, G.H. 1908 Mottes and Norman castles in County Louth. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 38, 241-69.

Wright, T. 1748 Louthiana: or an introduction to the antiquities of Ireland. London. Thomas Payne.