Moated site, Cappagh, Co. Westmeath
On the northeastern slope of a gently rising ridge in Cappagh, County Westmeath, the remains of a medieval moated site tell a story written in earth and vegetation.
Moated site, Cappagh, Co. Westmeath
Though the original earthwork has long since been levelled, keen observers can still trace its outline as a dark band of different plant growth, roughly six metres wide, marking where defensive ditches once stood. The site forms a sub-rectangular shape, measuring approximately 30 metres from northeast to southwest and 15 metres from northwest to southeast, with what appears to be an old entrance gap on the east-southeast side.
The location was clearly chosen with care by its medieval builders. The prominent ridge would have offered good views across the surrounding landscape, whilst nearby water sources provided both defensive advantages and daily necessities. Though Lough Garr has since been drained and transformed into bogland about 250 metres to the southwest, it would have been a proper lake when this site was occupied. The River Riffey and additional bogland lie 450 metres to the northeast, and another earthwork sits 380 metres to the southeast, suggesting this was once part of a broader network of medieval settlements.
First recorded on the 1837 Ordnance Survey six-inch map, the site has undergone significant changes over the centuries. Today, it sits surrounded by coniferous plantation, a far cry from the open agricultural landscape that would have characterised medieval Westmeath. While the physical earthworks may be gone, the distinctive vegetation patterns visible from above, captured in aerial photographs as recently as 2011, continue to mark this spot as a place where people once built their lives behind protective moats and banks.