Moated site, Rathmorgan, Co. Cork
In the level pastures near Rathmorgan, County Cork, lies a medieval moated site that has stood for centuries, now heavily overgrown and largely forgotten.
Moated site, Rathmorgan, Co. Cork
This rectangular earthwork measures approximately 30 metres from north-northwest to south-southeast and 25 metres from east-northeast to west-southwest. The site consists of two concentric earthen banks with a waterlogged ditch, or fosse, running between them; a construction typical of medieval defensive structures built across Ireland between the 13th and 15th centuries.
The inner bank rises just 0.4 metres from the interior ground level but drops 1.4 metres to the base of the intervening fosse, creating a significant defensive barrier. The outer bank presents an even more formidable obstacle, standing 1.6 metres above the fosse on its inner side whilst measuring 0.9 metres on its external face. There’s also a barely visible trace of what was once an external fosse on the east-northeast side, suggesting this site originally featured multiple layers of defensive ditches. Interestingly, the bank at the northwest corner stands noticeably higher than the rest, possibly indicating the location of a gatehouse or watchtower.
Today, the site remains largely inaccessible, with dense vegetation having claimed the interior and the intervening fosse permanently waterlogged. First documented by Barry in 1981 and later included in the Archaeological Inventory of County Cork published in 2000, this moated site represents one of many such earthworks scattered across North Cork; remnants of a time when Anglo-Norman settlers and Gaelicised lords alike relied on these fortified homesteads for protection in medieval Ireland’s contested landscapes.