This rectangular enclosure, measuring roughly 60 metres north to south and 40 metres east to west, sits in the low-lying ground beside a river, where medieval settlers once carved out their defensive homestead. Whilst nothing remains visible on the surface today, both the 1841 and 1909 Ordnance Survey six-inch maps clearly mark its presence, preserving the memory of this forgotten fortification.

Moated sites like this one were particularly popular in medieval Ireland between the 13th and 14th centuries, typically built by Anglo-Norman colonists and prosperous farming families who needed defendable homesteads in what was often contested territory. The moat itself would have been a water-filled ditch, fed by the nearby river, surrounding a raised platform where a timber hall or farmhouse once stood. These weren’t grand castles but practical defensive farms; places where families could live, work their land, and retreat behind water and earthen banks when trouble arose.

The presence of a tower house immediately to the east suggests this area maintained its strategic importance over several centuries. Tower houses represented a later phase of fortified dwelling, typically built from the 15th century onwards when stone construction became more accessible to the minor gentry. Together, these two structures paint a picture of continuous occupation and adaptation, where successive generations found this riverside location worth defending, even as architectural fashions and defensive needs evolved. The site was formally recorded in the Archaeological Inventory of County Laois in 1995, ensuring its place in Ireland’s historical record even as nature reclaims the physical remains.