What appears as little more than disturbed ground to modern visitors was once a complex medieval site, complete with a church, graveyard, and an intriguing series of earthworks that may have formed a moated enclosure.

The site, documented in aerial surveys from the 1960s, shows a rectangular enclosure surrounding the religious buildings; a feature that suggests this was once a defended ecclesiastical settlement. Such moated sites were relatively common in medieval Ireland, often built by Anglo-Norman settlers who combined religious functions with defensive earthworks. The church and its associated cross would have served the local community, whilst the surrounding earthworks provided both drainage and protection during uncertain times.

Today, these once-prominent features have been largely reclaimed by the landscape, with only the faintest traces visible at ground level. The graveyard continues its centuries-old purpose, but the earthworks that once defined this site have softened into gentle undulations in the fields. It’s only through historical aerial photography that we can appreciate the full extent of what stood here; a reminder of how much of Ireland’s medieval heritage lies hidden just beneath the surface, waiting to tell its story to those who know where to look.