Moated site

The National Monuments Service's description

Just off the crest of a gentle SE-facing slope. This is O'Conor's house at Clonfree described in two 14th century Gaelic poems (Quiggin 1913; McKenna 1923) and described in the Annals as the 'square fort' of Cloonfree in 1306 (Graham 1988, 31; Doran 2005, 387-8). The poems provide a detailed description of its defences, fortified entrance, a hall, and other houses (Finan and O'Conor 2002; 2003).

Scrub-covered rectangular area (dims. 36.1m E-W; 29.4m N-S) defined by overgrown, flat-topped earthen banks (Wth of top 1.4-2.1m; Wth of base 4.1-5.1m; int. H 0.7-1m; ext. H 1.8-2.3m), flat-bottomed moats (Wth of top 6.2-8m; Wth of base 4-5m; ext. D 1.3-1.5m) and outer overgrown flat-topped earthen banks (Wth of top 1-3m; Wth of base 3.6-5.9m; ext. H 0.6-1.4m) but the outer bank at E has been removed (max. ext. dims. c. 61m E-W; 54.8m N-S). The entrance is towards the W end of the S side and consists of gaps in the inner (Wth 2.1m) and outer (Wth 2.8m) banks, and there are traces of stone facing on the inner edge of the inner bank near the SE angle.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 29th September, 2010

References

McKenna, Rev. L. 1923 Poem to Clonfree Castle. Irish Monthly, 51, 639-45.

Quiggin, E.C. 1913a O'Conor's house at Cloonfree. In E.C. Quiggin, Essays and studies presented to William Ridgeway. Cambridge University Press.

Finan, T. and O'Conor, K. 2002 The moated site at Cloonfree. Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 54, 72-87.

Finan, T. and O'Conor, K. 2003 The moated site at Cloonfree. Journal of the Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society 9, 67-73.

Graham, B.J. 1988a The definition and classification of medieval Irish towns. Irish Geography 21, 20-32.

Doran, L. 2005 Aspects of Anglo-Norman secular settlement in Longford and Roscommon c. 1300. The Irish Sword 24, 361–410.