Bawn, Ardkill, Co. Kildare
Just southeast of a tower house in Ardkill, County Kildare, lie the faint remains of what was once a bawn, a fortified enclosure typical of Irish defensive architecture from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Bawn, Ardkill, Co. Kildare
The rectangular area measures approximately 35 metres from northwest to southeast and 27 metres across, though time has not been kind to these historic earthworks. What remains today is a low, grass-covered stony bank, barely rising 20 to 40 centimetres above ground level and spreading 2 to 3 metres wide, which traces the northeastern, southeastern, and southwestern boundaries of the original enclosure. The northwestern side would have been partially defined by the tower house itself, creating a defensive compound that once protected both the residents and their livestock.
The most intriguing feature is found along the southeastern edge, where keen observers can still make out traces of an outer fosse, or defensive ditch. This shallow depression, roughly 2 metres wide and only 30 centimetres deep, extends beyond the main site boundaries as it curves away to the northeast. Such fosses were common defensive features, designed to slow attacking forces and provide an additional layer of protection for the inhabitants within.
While the site may appear unremarkable to the casual passerby, these subtle earthworks represent centuries of Irish history written in the landscape itself. The bawn would have served as a crucial defensive structure during turbulent times, when raids and territorial disputes were commonplace. Today, though poorly preserved and easily overlooked, it stands as a quiet testament to the defensive strategies employed by landowners in medieval and early modern Ireland, when a tower house alone wasn’t sufficient protection against the threats of the era.