Castle - motte and bailey

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated just off the E edge of a plateau and on the W side of a small N-S valley with a stream c. 20m to the E. The castle of Old Ross is first mentioned in 1233 (Hore 1900-11, vol. 1, 2) and repairs to the palisade were carried out in 1281 (ibid. 15). The motte is a flat topped earthen mound (diam. of top 8-9m; diam. of base 35m E-W; H 5.8m at W to 7.7m at E) with some mature deciduous trees and scrub. It has no clearly visible fosse, but soil removal and slippage in the 1970s showed construction layers within the core of the mound (Culleton and Colfer 1974-5). A bailey may have existed to the S (dims. c. 50m N-S; c. 30m E-W) and an enclosure (diam. c. 30m) described as the ‘Site of Castle’ is marked on the 1839 ed. of the OS 6-inch map in this location. The church site (WX030-053001-) is c. 450m to the SE.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload/revision: 16 August, 2012

This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 2/1974).

References

Culleton, E. and Colfer, B. 1974-5 The Norman motte at Old Ross; method of construction. Journal of the Wexford Historical Society, Vol. 5, 22-5

Hore, P.H. 1900-1911 (Reprint 1979) History of the town and county of Wexford, 6 vols. Dublin. Published by arrangement with W.A. Hennessy Esq.