Moated site, Monkstown, Co. Westmeath
Moated site, Monkstown, Co. Westmeath
Though nothing remains visible on the surface today, having been levelled around 1980, this monument once formed a substantial defensive structure typical of Anglo-Norman settlement patterns in medieval Ireland.
Before its destruction, the site consisted of a sub-rectangular enclosure measuring approximately 16 metres from northwest to southeast and 24 metres from northeast to southwest. The enclosure was defended by a low earthen bank with a shallow external fosse, or defensive ditch, that could still be traced along the northeast and southwest sides. Intriguingly, this fosse extended from the eastern side of the monument in an east-southeast direction for about 65 metres, suggesting it may have served additional defensive purposes or controlled access to the site.
While the physical monument has been lost to modern agricultural practices, its outline remains visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs, including those taken by Digital Globe in November 2011. These ghostly traces in the landscape serve as reminders of the medieval past, when such moated sites dotted the Irish countryside, providing defended homesteads for Anglo-Norman settlers and their descendants during a turbulent period of Irish history.