Moated site, Ballymoty More, Co. Wexford
On a gently sloping hillside in Ballymoty More, County Wexford, lies the remains of a medieval moated site that once served as a fortified homestead.
Moated site, Ballymoty More, Co. Wexford
The rectangular earthwork measures 31 metres east to west and 28 metres north to south, sitting on elevated ground that faces west with a small stream flowing roughly 200 metres to the northwest. What makes this site particularly interesting is its defensive design; a substantial earthen bank, varying between 3 and 5 metres in width, defines the perimeter whilst rising between 30 and 80 centimetres above the interior ground level.
The site’s most striking feature is the water-filled moat that surrounds the entire structure, a defensive element common to Anglo-Norman settlements in medieval Ireland. These flat-bottomed ditches vary considerably in their dimensions, ranging from 4.5 metres wide on the western side to 8.5 metres at the northern edge, with depths between 1.5 and 2.5 metres. The corners of the earthwork are notably raised, which would have provided additional defensive advantages and better sightlines across the surrounding countryside.
Today, the site is overgrown with vegetation, but its outline remains clearly visible in the landscape. Moated sites like this one were typically built between the 13th and 14th centuries by Anglo-Norman colonists or Gaelicised Norman families, serving as defended farmsteads for wealthy landowners. They represent an important phase in Irish medieval history when new agricultural practices and defensive architecture were introduced to the Irish countryside, fundamentally changing the rural landscape of counties like Wexford.





