This moated site consists of a raised rectangular platform, roughly 30 metres square, surrounded by a water-filled ditch that would have served as both a defensive barrier and a status symbol. Dating from the 13th or 14th century, these earthworks represent the homes of Anglo-Norman settlers or Gaelicised Norman families who established themselves across the Irish countryside during the medieval period.

The site would have originally supported a timber-framed hall or tower house, though no visible structures remain above ground today. What survives is the impressive earthwork itself; the platform rises about two metres above the surrounding field level, with the encircling moat still holding water in places despite centuries of silting. Archaeological surveys suggest that a drawbridge or causeway would have provided access across the moat to the main entrance, whilst the platform itself would have contained not just the main dwelling but also outbuildings for storage, livestock, and daily activities.

Moated sites like Carrowbunnaun offer fascinating glimpses into how medieval lordship operated in rural Ireland. They represent a middle tier of society; wealthier than ordinary farmers but not quite reaching the stone castle-building elite. These sites dot the landscape across Sligo and neighbouring counties, marking out a network of minor lordships that controlled local territories, collected rents, and administered justice. Today, Carrowbunnaun stands as a grass-covered monument to this vanished way of life, its waterlogged ditches still tracing the boundaries of medieval ambition in the Irish countryside.