Castle - motte, Lackagh More, Co. Kildare
At the foot of a gently sloping field in Lackagh More, County Kildare, a substantial earthen mound rises four metres above the surrounding tillage land.
Castle - motte, Lackagh More, Co. Kildare
This circular motte, with an estimated base diameter of 35 metres, features the characteristic steep sides and concave summit typical of Norman fortifications in Ireland. The summit platform, measuring 16 metres across, would have once supported a wooden tower or palisade, commanding views across the medieval landscape. A shallow fosse, or defensive ditch about two metres wide, encircles the mound, with faint traces of an outer bank still visible beneath the overgrowth.
The motte’s strategic placement becomes clear when considering its neighbours; roughly 150 metres to the east stands a ruined tower house, whilst just beyond to the east-northeast, a medieval church and its accompanying graveyard complete this cluster of historical structures. This proximity suggests Lackagh More was once a significant settlement, with the motte serving as an early Norman stronghold that later gave way to the more permanent stone fortifications of the tower house.
Today, nature has largely reclaimed this earthwork, with vegetation covering much of the structure. Yet its form remains remarkably intact, offering a tangible connection to the Norman conquest and settlement of Leinster in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The slight ridge to the northeast may have provided additional natural defence, demonstrating how the Norman builders carefully selected and modified the landscape to create these formidable, if now peaceful, monuments to medieval power.