Castle - motte and bailey

The National Monuments Service's description

A large circular steep-sided mound (max. H 8.5-10m, diam. c. 43m) with external bank (Wth 3.5-5m, H c. 1.5m above surrounding ground level). A small D-shaped bailey (8m by 9m), defined by an earthen bank (Wth 5m, H 1m), adjoins the fosse of the motte at the NW. A much larger bailey existed at the E which according to Wright (1758, bk I, pl. IX) was sub-rectangular in plan, but this has now been almost totally destroyed by a modern waterworks. A slight scarp, which indicates its original limits, can still be discerned. On top of the motte are the remains of a late eighteenth century castellated house known as 'Byrne's Folly' and a peripheral bank which appears to be the same date. At the E side of the mound is a wide gap in the bank (Wth c. 4m) with a causeway across the fosse opposite it. It is uncertain whether these features are ancient or modern. A souterrain (LH007-118008-) is set into the S side of the motte. (Wright 1758, bk, I, 7-8, pls VIII, IX; Orpen 1908, 256-61).

This is a National Monument, in state guardianship: No. 388.

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.

See the attached view of the motte and Byrne's Folly from E

Date of upload: 17 July 2007

References

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.