Historical records from Davies in 1948 document this location as the site of a plantation ‘house and bawn’; a type of defensive homestead built by English and Scottish settlers during the Ulster Plantation. The bawn would have been a fortified courtyard with high walls, designed to protect the house, livestock and crops from raids during this period of colonisation and conflict.

Today, visitors to the site will find little evidence of this once imposing structure above ground. The sole survivor is a large moulded stone tucked into the southwest corner of what remains of the yard. Archaeological experts believe this substantial carved block may have formed the base of a defensive turret, one of several that would have punctuated the bawn’s walls. These turrets served as watchtowers and defensive positions, allowing the plantation settlers to spot approaching danger across the Cavan landscape.

The near complete disappearance of the house and bawn at Moynehall reflects the fate of many plantation structures across Ulster. Built during a time of intense social upheaval, these fortified homes were often destroyed in subsequent rebellions, abandoned as political circumstances changed, or simply quarried for building materials by later generations. What remains at Moynehall serves as a subtle reminder of how the landscape of County Cavan was transformed during the plantation era, when new architectural forms and defensive strategies were imposed upon the ancient Irish countryside.