Castle - motte

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, on the W shoreline of Inishmore Island in Lough Arrow. A grass-covered flat-topped mound (diam. at top 4m N-S; 5.7m E-W; diam. at base c. 23m; H 4.5m) with steeply sloping sides. The mound is highest on the W side due to the natural slope down to the shoreline. There is a flat-bottomed fosse around the base of the mound except along the W arc where the edge of the mound slopes down to the shoreline. Rock outcrop is evident in the fosse at NE. An external flat-topped bank (Wth 3.6m; int. H 2m to base of fosse; ext. H 1.1m) is evident NW-NNE. Immediately outside the fosse at S is a roughly rectangular platform (12.5m N-S; 15m E-W) or bailey (SL034-232001-) defined by a fosse along the N and S sides, that on the S side being less well defined, and by a steep-sided scarp on the W side; the E side is indistinct. The nature of irregular lines of submerged boulders noted at the shoreline immediately to N of the mound remains unclear. The form of the mound and the attached platform are consistent with a small earthwork castle.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Date of upload: 18 January 2008