Moated site, Pruntus, Co. Cork

Moated site, Pruntus, Co. Cork

In the reclaimed pastures approximately 200 metres north of the Garrane River in County Cork, a medieval moated site quietly persists through the centuries.

Moated site, Pruntus, Co. Cork

This rectangular earthwork, measuring roughly 30 metres from north to south and 25 metres east to west, represents a type of defensive settlement that once dotted the Irish countryside during the Anglo-Norman period. The site consists of an earthen bank that rises about a metre high, surrounded by an external fosse, or defensive ditch, that reaches depths of around 0.8 metres.

The fortification shows varying states of preservation around its perimeter. The western bank remains the most substantial and impressive, whilst the northern section has weathered down to a lower profile. The southern side appears narrower, possibly disturbed by later agricultural activity; a cattle gap breaches the northern bank where livestock have worn a path through the ancient earthwork. The surrounding fosse has largely dried out over time, though the eastern section remains partially waterlogged, and the ditch along the eastern half of the southern side has been filled in completely. A drain installed midway along the southern side channels water from the interior out into the surrounding fields.



Today, heavy vegetation has claimed the site, making the interior completely inaccessible and lending it an air of forgotten mystery. First documented by archaeologist E.M. Barry in 1981, the site was later included in the Archaeological Inventory of County Cork, Volume 4, published in 2000. Like many moated sites across Ireland, this earthwork likely served as a fortified farmstead during medieval times, providing both defence and status to its inhabitants whilst controlling the surrounding agricultural lands.

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Pruntus, Co. Cork
52.32519253, -8.63934509
52.32519253,-8.63934509
Pruntus 
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