Moated site, Causestown, Co. Meath
In the countryside near Causestown, County Meath, lies a rectangular earthwork that tells a story of medieval settlement and defence.
Moated site, Causestown, Co. Meath
This moated site, though absent from modern maps, reveals itself through aerial photography from the 1940s and remains visible on the ground today as a distinct grass-covered rectangle measuring approximately 24 metres from north-northwest to south-southeast and 22.5 metres from east-northeast to west-southwest.
The site’s defining features are its fosses, or water-filled moats, which would have originally surrounded the central platform where a dwelling once stood. These defensive ditches, now measuring 3 to 4 metres across at the top though only about 10 centimetres deep, create a clear boundary around the rectangular enclosure. Just inside these moats, traces of earthen banks can still be detected through variations in vegetation growth; thinner grass marks where these protective embankments once stood, adding an extra layer of defence to what was likely a farmstead or manor house during the medieval period.
Such moated sites are relatively common across the Irish midlands, typically dating from the 13th to 14th centuries when Anglo-Norman settlers established fortified homesteads throughout the region. While time and agriculture have softened its edges, this particular example at Causestown remains remarkably legible in the landscape, visible not only to those walking the fields but also clearly discernible on modern satellite imagery, preserving a tangible link to Meath’s medieval past.