This rectangular enclosure, measuring approximately 70 metres in length and 50 metres in width, was surrounded by a deep water-filled ditch, or fosse, that drew its water directly from the nearby stream. The moat would have served both defensive and status purposes, marking this as a site of some importance during the medieval period.

Historical Ordnance Survey maps from the 19th century captured the site’s distinctive outline, documenting what the OS Letters described as an oblong enclosure with its impressive defensive fosse still clearly visible in the landscape. These water-filled ditches were a characteristic feature of Anglo-Norman settlements in Ireland, particularly during the 13th and 14th centuries, when colonists sought to establish fortified homesteads in sometimes hostile territory.

Unfortunately, this piece of medieval heritage was lost to development in 1972 when the site was completely levelled. Today, nothing remains of the moated enclosure that once stood here; its location now absorbed into Tallaght’s modern built environment. The site serves as a reminder of how much archaeological evidence has been lost to Ireland’s rapid urbanisation in the late 20th century, taking with it tangible connections to the medieval landscape that once dominated this part of Dublin.