Measuring approximately 43 metres north to south and 39 metres east to west, this earthwork appears as a darker patch in the crops during dry conditions, when plants growing above the water-filled ditches stay greener than those in the surrounding field. The site was first spotted on Google Earth imagery from June 2018 by Matthew Mullen Reynolds, adding another piece to our understanding of medieval settlement patterns in this part of Kildare.

What makes this discovery particularly intriguing is that it’s not alone; just 80 metres to the south lies a second moated site, catalogued as KD031-047. These paired settlements suggest this area was once home to a small cluster of defended farmsteads, likely dating from the 13th or 14th century when Anglo-Norman settlers were establishing themselves across the Irish countryside. Moated sites like these were typically home to prosperous farming families who dug defensive ditches around their timber or stone houses, creating rectangular or square enclosures that offered both protection and a display of status.

The clarity of these cropmarks demonstrates how modern technology continues to reveal Ireland’s hidden heritage. While the buildings themselves have long since vanished and the ditches have been filled in by centuries of ploughing, the soil retains the memory of these medieval homesteads. During particularly dry summers, differential crop growth betrays the presence of these buried features, allowing archaeologists and keen-eyed observers to map settlements that would otherwise remain invisible to us.