The answer is that it was, and the archaeological record formally recognises the existence of town defences here, placing Inistioge within a relatively small group of Irish medieval settlements that warranted the construction of walls, ditches, or related fortifications to define and protect their boundaries.

Town defences in an Irish medieval context typically comprised some combination of a stone wall, an earthen bank, a defensive ditch, and controlled entry points or gates. Their presence in a settlement usually reflects a degree of commercial or administrative importance, since the effort and cost of construction was considerable. Inistioge, situated on the River Nore in County Kilkenny, had an Augustinian priory founded in the thirteenth century and functioned as a recognisable urban settlement during the later medieval period. Kilkenny itself was one of the most significant towns in medieval Ireland, and smaller settlements along the Nore corridor shared in that regional network of trade and ecclesiastical activity, which may help explain why Inistioge acquired formal defences at all.