This circular mound, measuring approximately 28 metres across at its base, rises steeply to a height of three to four metres. The flat summit, spanning nearly 20 metres from north to south, offers commanding views of the surrounding landscape. A defensive ditch, or fosse, once encircled the entire structure, though today it’s best preserved along the north, east, and south-eastern sections. The original entrance point has been lost to time, leaving historians to speculate about how defenders and residents once accessed this fortified position.

The mound is what’s known as a motte, a type of fortification introduced to Ireland by the Anglo-Normans in the late 12th century. These artificial hills typically supported wooden palisades and towers, forming the defensive heart of early medieval settlements. Local tradition often refers to such sites simply as “moats,” though this term more accurately describes the water-filled ditches that sometimes accompanied them. At the south-eastern edge of the summit, archaeologists have noted a curious circular depression, roughly six metres wide and 30 centimetres deep, with a rounded bottom. Its purpose remains a mystery; it might have been a well, a storage pit, or perhaps the foundation of a long-vanished structure.

This particular motte represents one of many such fortifications scattered across the Irish landscape, each marking the advance of Norman control into Gaelic territories during the medieval period. While the wooden structures that once crowned these earthworks have long since disappeared, the impressive earthen remains continue to dominate their surroundings, serving as enduring monuments to a turbulent period in Irish history.