Moated site, Dunishal, Co. Wexford
The moated site at Dunishal in County Wexford sits within a north-south valley, where a stream marking the boundary with neighbouring Kiltillahan townland flows through its eastern moat.
Moated site, Dunishal, Co. Wexford
This medieval earthwork consists of a rectangular, slightly dished platform measuring 54 metres northwest to southeast and 52 metres northeast to southwest. The grass-covered area has gently raised corners and is surrounded on all four sides by substantial flat-bottomed moats, ranging from 8 to 11 metres in width and reaching depths of 1.3 to 2 metres. These water-filled defensive ditches, now lined with bushes along their edges, would have provided both protection and drainage for whatever structures once stood on the central platform.
The site shows no obvious entrance point today, though one must have existed to allow access to the enclosed area. A counterscarp bank, which is an earthen embankment on the outer edge of a moat, can be seen on the eastern side, though this feature may be a more recent addition rather than part of the original medieval construction. Such moated sites were typically built between the 13th and 14th centuries, often serving as fortified farmsteads for Anglo-Norman settlers or prosperous farming families.
These rectangular moated enclosures are characteristic of medieval settlement patterns in southeast Ireland, particularly in County Wexford where dozens of similar sites have been recorded. They represent an important phase of Irish history when new agricultural practices and defensive strategies were being introduced to the landscape, leaving behind these distinctive earthworks that continue to intrigue archaeologists and historians centuries later.





