This roughly square earthwork, measuring approximately 40 metres from east to west, represents a type of defensive homestead that once dotted the Irish countryside during the Anglo-Norman period. The site retains low earthen banks along its southern, western and northern boundaries, with faint traces of what was once a water-filled fosse, or defensive ditch, that would have surrounded the central platform.

These moated sites were typically constructed between the 13th and 14th centuries, serving as fortified farmsteads for Anglo-Norman settlers or prosperous Irish families. The central raised platform would have held timber buildings; perhaps a hall house, outbuildings and storage structures; all protected by the surrounding water-filled moat. The combination of the earthen banks and flooded ditch created a formidable barrier against raiders whilst also serving practical purposes such as drainage, fish farming and a ready water supply for livestock.

Today, the Oldtown site offers little obvious drama to the casual observer, with no clearly identifiable entrance remaining and much of its original form softened by centuries of weathering and agricultural use. Yet these understated earthworks represent an important chapter in Ireland’s medieval settlement patterns, marking places where communities once thrived, defended their holdings and adapted to the changing political landscape of medieval Ireland. Such sites remind us that history isn’t always found in grand castles or ancient monuments; sometimes it’s written in the gentle undulations of a farmer’s field.