Moated site, Cloonacurra, Co. Sligo
In the wet pastures of Cloonacurra, County Sligo, the remains of a medieval moated site form a distinctive square platform rising from the surrounding landscape.
Moated site, Cloonacurra, Co. Sligo
This earthwork, which appears as a circular enclosure on both the 1838 and 1913 Ordnance Survey maps, actually consists of a square platform measuring approximately 22.6 metres north to south and 21.5 metres east to west. The platform is defined by a scarp that reaches about one metre in height on the northern side and 0.75 metres on the southern side, with a slight raised lip running along its interior edge.
The eastern side of the platform shows the most wear, with two low, slumped gaps each about three metres wide; one located centrally and another at the southern end. Along the southern edge, traces of the original defensive fosse, or water-filled ditch, can still be seen as a shallow, waterlogged depression roughly two metres wide. These fosses were typical features of medieval moated sites, which served as fortified homesteads for Anglo-Norman settlers and wealthy Gaelic families from the 13th to 15th centuries.
The interior of the platform remains largely level, though archaeological survey has revealed some intriguing features. A small depression measuring four by three metres occupies the northwest corner, whilst the northeast quadrant contains what appears to be the remains of a hut site. These internal features suggest the platform once supported domestic structures, likely timber-framed buildings that have long since disappeared, leaving only these subtle traces in the earth to mark where medieval inhabitants once lived and worked within their defended enclosure.