These earthwork enclosures, typically dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, were once common features of the Irish landscape, particularly in areas settled by Anglo-Norman colonists. The moat, essentially a water-filled defensive ditch, would have surrounded a raised platform where a timber hall or fortified farmhouse once stood.

Unfortunately, the site remains something of a mystery to archaeologists. When researchers from the North Kerry Archaeological Survey attempted to conduct a proper inspection and survey of the enclosure in the mid-1990s, the landowner refused permission to access the property. Without this crucial fieldwork, it’s impossible to determine the site’s exact dimensions, current condition, or whether any above-ground features survive beyond what the old maps suggest.

The presence of a moated site in this part of Kerry hints at the complex medieval history of the region, where Gaelic Irish lords and Anglo-Norman settlers coexisted, competed, and occasionally intermarried. These defensive homesteads served as both agricultural centres and symbols of authority in a landscape that was often contested. While many similar sites across Ireland have been excavated or at least properly surveyed, Glannalappa Middle’s moated enclosure remains tantalisingly out of reach, its secrets protected as much by modern property rights as by the centuries of soil that likely cover its foundations.