This rectangular enclosure, measuring approximately 50 metres east to west and 22.5 metres north to south, would have been home to an Anglo-Norman family or prosperous Irish clan during the medieval period. The site first appeared on the 1837 Ordnance Survey six-inch map, marked as a rectangular embanked enclosure, though its northern edge had already been truncated by the river’s course.

Today, visitors can still trace much of the site’s original defensive perimeter through the landscape. The eastern and southern sides retain visible remnants of the original moats, now marked by distinctive bands of reeds that have colonised these water-filled ditches over the centuries. These moats, measuring about 2.4 metres in width, would have provided both drainage and defence for the settlement within. The River Suck forms the natural northern boundary, whilst the western perimeter has been lost to time and agricultural activity.

Moated sites like this one at Leabeg were common throughout medieval Ireland, particularly from the 13th to 15th centuries. They typically housed timber or stone buildings within their protective boundaries, serving as fortified farmsteads for colonising Anglo-Norman families or adopted by Gaelicised lords who appreciated their defensive advantages. Though the buildings themselves have long since vanished, the earthworks remain as subtle but enduring monuments to medieval life in rural Roscommon, offering a glimpse into how communities once lived and defended themselves along Ireland’s river valleys.