Moated site, Monroe, Co. Wexford
On a west-facing slope near Monroe in County Wexford sits the remains of a medieval moated site, its rectangular outline still clearly visible despite centuries of weathering.
Moated site, Monroe, Co. Wexford
The site first appeared on the 1839 Ordnance Survey map as a modest rectangular feature measuring roughly 30 metres northwest to southeast and 25 metres northeast to southwest. By the time cartographers revisited the area for the 1940 edition, they recorded it more accurately as a subrectangular moated site with expanded dimensions of approximately 50 by 45 metres.
Today, visitors to the site will find a grass and scrub-covered rectangular area measuring 28 metres northeast to southwest and 25 metres northwest to southeast. A flat-bottomed moat, six metres wide and one metre deep, defines the boundaries on three sides; the northern edge has been lost to later farm buildings that truncated the original earthwork. Along the western side, remnants of an inner bank survive, stretching four metres wide and rising just 30 centimetres above the surrounding ground level.
These moated sites, common across medieval Ireland, typically date from the 13th to 14th centuries and were built by Anglo-Norman settlers or prosperous Irish farmers. The moats served multiple purposes: defence against raiders, drainage for the central platform, and perhaps most importantly, as status symbols announcing the wealth and importance of their owners. The Monroe example, though partially damaged, remains a well-preserved specimen of these intriguing medieval earthworks that dot the Wexford landscape.





