Moated site, Tinnarath, Co. Wexford
Tucked away on a gentle south-facing slope in Tinnarath, County Wexford, lies the remains of a medieval moated site that once served as a fortified homestead.
Moated site, Tinnarath, Co. Wexford
The rectangular platform, measuring 27 metres north to south and 26 metres east to west, is now overgrown with mixed woodland, but its defensive features remain clearly visible. The site’s slightly raised corners and the surrounding earthworks tell the story of a carefully planned medieval settlement that would have housed a timber or stone building at its centre.
The most striking features are the flat-bottomed moats that still define the northern and eastern sides of the site. These water-filled ditches, which measure 6 metres across at the top and narrow to about 4.2 metres at the base, would have provided both defence and drainage for the medieval inhabitants. The moats reach depths of up to 2.9 metres on the exterior side, whilst the interior depth is approximately 1 metre. Accompanying these defensive ditches are outer banks, roughly 3 metres wide and rising a metre high on the exterior, which would have made any assault on the homestead considerably more difficult.
Water management was clearly important to the site’s medieval builders, as evidenced by a drainage system that still functions today. A drain enters through the southern moat and flows westward, eventually turning at the northwest corner. Time and agricultural activity have taken their toll on the western defences, where the outer bank has been levelled into the moat, but the overall footprint of this medieval stronghold remains remarkably intact. First documented by Barry in 1977 and later included in the Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford in 1996, this moated site offers a tangible connection to the Anglo-Norman settlement of southeast Ireland.





