When archaeologists surveyed this site in October 1980, they found an impressive earthwork measuring 55 metres north to south and 35 metres east to west, complete with the classic defensive features of a medieval moated enclosure: two concentric banks with a water-filled ditch, or fosse, running between them.

The site’s defences were particularly well-preserved on three sides before its partial destruction. The inner bank, though modest at just a metre wide and half a metre high, formed the primary defensive line, whilst the waterlogged fosse surrounding it stretched 3 to 4 metres wide and plunged 1.5 metres deep, though it was notably shallower on the eastern approach. Beyond this lay a fainter outer bank, best preserved on the northern and western sides. What made this site particularly intriguing was a series of causeways crossing an additional fosse to the northwest, suggesting this wasn’t just a simple moated homestead but potentially a more complex defensive system.

Unfortunately, land reclamation work in 1981 and 1982 saw the moat filled in and many of the site’s distinctive features lost. Today, visitors will find a raised rectangular platform marked by a slight bank; the top measures just 65 centimetres wide, with an internal height of half a metre and an external drop of 1.5 metres. Whilst much diminished from its medieval glory, this earthwork still marks the spot where a fortified homestead once stood, its water defences protecting whoever lived within from the uncertainties of medieval Irish life.