Castle - motte

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, adjacent to a modern farmstead, located 30m N of a stream/drain in gently undulating terrain, with a broad expanse of wet, boggy ground c. 200m to W. There are excellent views in all directions from the top of the platform.
This impressive earthwork castle or motte, which has given its name to the townland, consists of a large, oval domed platform (c. 73m NW−SE; 51m NE−SW) defined by a high, steeply sloping scarp, outside which it is enclosed by a broad fosse (3.5-4m) with an outer bank (3.6m; int. H 1m; ext. H 0.65m at SE). While roughly oval in overall plan, the platform has a squarish angle at its NE end, which appears to be part of an entrance feature. The motte was first recorded by Knox (1911, 301).
The platform is substantially raised, probably utilising a natural rise, and has a domed or tiered profile. A central raised spine has a level top (c. 30m NW−SE; c. 18m NE−SW) from which ground drops to a narrow, berm-like strip of level ground (Wth 1-2m). The drop in height varies between 1.8-2m at SW to c. 3m at NE. From the narrow berm there is a further steep scarp (H 2.5-3.4m) dropping to the level of the surrounding field, giving the top of the platform an overall height above exterior ground level of between 6-7m.
At the N side of the NE end the raised interior spine drops to a broader berm or level area (c. 13-14m N−S; c. 13-14m E−W) defined by a square angle, mirrored in the fosse and external bank. This appears to define the NE side of an entrance feature; here the platform scarp has a gentler slope and there are remnants of a causeway across the fosse. However, the NW side of this feature is now partly levelled or quarried away.
The enclosing fosse and outer bank remain fairly well defined, except at SSW−NNW where the fosse is infilled and the outer bank is levelled to a slight undulation.
Relict cultivation ridges traverse the platform on a NE−SW axis. There is a low, roughly circular sod-covered rise (diam. 3m; H 0.3m), from which a few stones protrude, at the SE side of the top of the platform; it appears to overlie the cultivation ridges.
The platform is grass-covered; the scarp is lightly ringed with hawthorn and gorse bushes, with sycamore and ash trees on the outer bank.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 4 November 2022

References

Knox, H.T. 1911 Some Connacht Raths and Motes. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 41, 205-40, 301-42.