Though you won’t find it marked on modern Ordnance Survey maps, this medieval earthwork once formed an impressive rectangular enclosure measuring roughly 41 metres from east to west and 37 metres from north to south. When archaeologists surveyed the site in 1970, they could still trace the outline of the defensive moats that surrounded three sides of the raised platform, with only the western edge left undefended.

Within this fortified space, the remnants of a large rectangular building could be detected through subtle earthen banks that marked where walls once stood, though curiously, no obvious entrance was visible. The site’s defences were particularly elaborate; beyond the inner moats, additional protective banks had been constructed to the north and south, creating multiple layers of security for whoever occupied this spot during the medieval period. These outer earthworks would have made the site even more formidable to potential attackers.

Unfortunately, by 1995, this piece of Ireland’s medieval heritage had been completely removed, likely falling victim to agricultural improvements or development. The loss of such sites makes those that remain all the more precious for understanding how people lived, worked, and defended themselves in medieval Ireland. The careful documentation carried out in 1970 by the Archaeological Survey, and later compiled by Michael Moore for the Archaeological Inventory of County Meath, ensures that even vanished sites like this one remain part of the historical record.