Measuring 14 metres north to south and 17 metres east to west, this raised area sits atop a low knoll with ground sloping away in all directions. The platform’s edges are defined by a gentle scarp about a quarter of a metre high, with a road running along its southern and western base.

This unassuming earthwork likely marks the site of ‘Le Pallace’, a castle built by the Geraldines, one of Ireland’s most powerful Anglo-Norman families. The castle’s history took a dramatic turn in 1587 when it was granted to an English planter during the Elizabethan conquest of Ireland, part of the Crown’s efforts to establish Protestant settlements on confiscated lands. The site saw military action during the Confederate Wars when it came under siege in 1642, a turbulent period when Catholic Irish forces fought against English Parliamentary control.

Today, little remains of the castle beyond the raised platform in the field, but the site serves as a tangible reminder of centuries of conflict and changing ownership that characterised much of Ireland’s medieval and early modern history. The research documenting this site was compiled by Denis Power and uploaded to historical records in August 2011, preserving knowledge of this once strategically important Geraldine stronghold.