Castle - motte

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on high ground overlooking nearby river to the E. This high steep sided mound was impossible to examine due to dense overgrowth at time of visit. However it appears to have been landscaped in the 19th-century and a cottage was built into N side of the mound. It is impossible to identify this mound as a Norman fortification due to the landscaping and forestry activity on the mound. However its location and form would be typical for a motte. Locally known as the 'Moat' along with its position on the OS 6-inch map where it is depicted as 'Moat' would support classification of site as a motte. A stone statue of a horseman was found on the 'Moat' or on an old 'rath' near Castle Bernard in the 19th (Hitchcock 1908, 26-8) and was acquired by the National Museum of Ireland in 1947 (Reg. No. 1947:1054; file No. IA/93/1947).
The statue of the horseman was mistakenly reported as being discovered inside a ‘Rath’ (OF036-062001-) located on this hilltop as stated in Cooke’s, History of Birr which was published in 1875. In this book, T. L. Cooke stated that a figure of horseman carved in stone was found, ‘in the year 1844, in a large earthen rath or ring on Knock-na-man, that is, the “hill of God”, or “hill of the sun”, or “hill of the altar” (Cooke 1875, 154). However there is a conflict over the provenance of the finding of the stone horseman on this possible hilltop enclosure which contradicts the provenance of this find listed in Catalogue of the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853. The stone horseman was displayed in 1853 at the Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin where its provenance was described in the catalogue of exhibits as an ‘Image, supposed to be of Eochaidh, the tutelary semi-god, whom the Pagan Irish believed to preside over cattle and horses. It was found in a moate or barrow, within the demesne, and close to the mansion, of Castle Bernard, King's County’(Anon 1853, 146). In 1908, Hitchcock confirms the details written in the 1853 catalogue when he wrote that, ‘a small equestrian statue which was unearthed from an ancient rath on the Castle Bernard estate known as "the Moate" (OF046-044003-). Hitchcock recorded that this horseman may have been located on or near the site of an ‘Irish mote, which is not a deep trench but a high rath, one at Castle Bernard’ (Hitchcock 1908, 46). There is a large Anglo-Norman motte beside ‘Castle Bernard’ which is marked on the OS maps as ‘Moat’ (OF046-044003-).
This stone statue was described by Feehan in 1979 as ‘carved in yellow sandstone, which could be of local origin; the horse is a powerful-looking animal in the equus admissarius position and measures forty-three centimetres from head to tail, but its legs are broken. The saddle has a high pommel and cantle, and a padded saddle cloth. There is only one stirrup, on the off-side. The stocky rider wears what seems to be a tight cap, a loose overcoat and girdle, and carries a sword at his left side. The figure is certainly an exceptionally fine one, dating from the fourteenth or fifteenth century’ (Feehan 1979, 160). The dating of the figure would suggest that the horseman was originally found on the Anglo-Norman motte (OF046-044003-) on the grounds of the Castle Bernard estate, known today as Kinnitty Castle and not inside the hilltop enclosure or possible hillfort (OF036-062001-) at Knocknaman.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload/revision: 30 December 2011

References

Cooke, T.L. 1875 The early history of the town of Birr. Dublin. Robertson.

Feehan, J. 1979 The Landscape of the Slieve Bloom. A study of its natural and human heritage. Dublin. Blackwater.

Hitchcock, F.R.M. 1908 The Midland septs and the pale. Dublin. Sealy, Bryers and Walker.

Anon. 1853 Official Catalogue of the Great Industrial Exhibition, 1853. Dublin. Printed for the committee by John Falconer.