The rectangular enclosure appears as a cropmark; a subtle difference in vegetation growth that traces the path of an ancient fosse, or defensive ditch, long since filled in and forgotten. These marks, captured by photographer Michael Moore, offer a glimpse into Ireland’s medieval past when such fortified homesteads dotted the landscape.

Moated sites like Rathrush were typically built between the 13th and 14th centuries, serving as defended farmsteads for Anglo-Norman settlers and prosperous Irish families. The rectangular platform, surrounded by a water-filled ditch, would have held a timber or stone house along with various outbuildings. The moat served multiple purposes; it provided defence against cattle raids and local disputes, demonstrated the owner’s social status, and supplied water for household use and livestock. While many of these sites have been levelled by centuries of farming, their foundations remain preserved beneath the soil, revealing themselves only under specific conditions when crops grow differently over the disturbed ground.

Today, Rathrush stands as one of hundreds of moated sites scattered across Ireland’s eastern counties, particularly in areas of Anglo-Norman settlement. Though nothing remains visible at ground level, the aerial photographs compiled by Claire Breen in 2012 ensure this piece of medieval heritage isn’t lost entirely. These cropmarks serve as important archaeological evidence, helping historians map patterns of medieval settlement and understand how communities organised themselves in an era of political uncertainty and territorial expansion.