This Norman fortification, likely constructed in the late 12th or early 13th century, consists of a raised earthwork mound, or motte, which would have originally supported a wooden tower, alongside a lower enclosed courtyard known as a bailey. These castles were the calling cards of the Anglo-Norman invaders who swept into Ireland following Strongbow’s arrival in 1169, serving as both military strongholds and administrative centres for their newly conquered territories.

The Clonmoney West castle follows the classic motte and bailey design that the Normans perfected across Britain and Ireland. The motte, standing several metres high despite centuries of erosion, would have been topped with a wooden palisade and tower, providing an elevated defensive position and commanding views across the surrounding lands. The adjacent bailey, now visible as a raised platform enclosed by earthen banks, would have contained the garrison’s living quarters, stables, workshops and storage buildings; all protected by timber fortifications. This efficient design allowed the Normans to quickly establish control over conquered regions, as these fortifications could be constructed in a matter of weeks using local labour and readily available materials.

Today, whilst the wooden structures have long since vanished, the earthworks remain as a testament to this pivotal period in Irish history. The site at Clonmoney West represents one of many such fortifications scattered across County Clare, marking the frontier between Gaelic Ireland and Norman ambition. These humble mounds of earth tell the story of conquest, resistance and eventual integration that shaped medieval Ireland, when foreign invaders gradually became more Irish than the Irish themselves, their wooden towers eventually replaced by the stone castles that would define the Irish landscape for centuries to come.