This rectangular earthwork, measuring 60 metres from north to south and 40 metres from east to west, reveals itself through the subtle traces of an ancient fosse, or defensive ditch. The outline is most clearly visible along the southern edge, particularly at its centre, where centuries of weathering haven’t entirely erased the medieval landscape modifications.

These fosses were once water-filled ditches that surrounded homesteads, serving both defensive and status purposes during medieval Ireland. The Bushypark site follows the typical pattern of Anglo-Norman moated sites that dotted the Irish countryside from the 13th century onwards, when settlers carved out fortified farmsteads in the fertile lands of Kildare. While the buildings that once stood within this protective boundary have long since vanished, the earthwork boundaries continue to mark where a medieval family once lived, farmed, and defended their holdings.

Modern technology has given this ancient site new visibility; the outlines that might escape casual observation on the ground show up clearly in aerial photography, including the 2010 Ordnance Survey Ireland orthophoto that helped document its precise dimensions. Sites like this one at Bushypark offer tangible connections to Ireland’s layered past, where Norman and Gaelic cultures intersected and where the medieval landscape still whispers through the modern fields.