Ardmayle Moat

At the edge of a N-facing slope overlooking a flat plain with very good views in all directions, except to S which is obscured by rising ground. Motte and bailey situated in a pasture field which has been badly poached by cattle and which was quarried in the 1950s, with quarry holes immediately W of the motte and E of the bailey and upcast from the quarry adjacent to the monument. In 1207 Walter de Lacey was granted the cantred of Eóganacht Caisil (Ardmayle) and c. 1225 when Richard de Burgh married Walter's daughter Egidia, Richard received the cantred with the castle, presumably the motte, of Ardmayle (Cahill 1982 - from CDI Nos. 1268, 363 and 743). Steep-sided, high motte (H 8.65m) with an oval summit (dims. top 8m N-S; 10.8m E-W; base c. 40m) with slightly concave surface. A mature tree had been growing on the top of the motte in the 1980s and is since gone, if uprooted this could have been responsible for the slight depression on the summit. Another tree has since been planted NE of centre, protected from cattle by a metal surround. Also on the summit are a flag-pole and a statue of Our Blessed Lady with a statue of the keeling St. Bernadette c. 1m below, on the slope. The S quadrant has a slight lip (Wth 0.9m; H above int. 0.25m) with a high stone content, possibly indicating a wall. This slight lip is visible around the circumference of the summit to a lesser degree, emphasized by the concave interior. The base of the motte is enclosed by a fosse (Wth 3.6m; D 1.56m above outer bank) from SE-N-NE and outer bank (Wth crest 2.7m; base 7.1m; ext. H 0.8m) from SE-S-SW and from NW to N and by a U-shaped bailey from NE-E-SE is divided from the bailey by a broad, flat-bottomed fosse (Wth 3.2m; D 1.45m below bank of bailey). In the W quad. there is mounded-up upcast from a quarry 3m from the edge of the outer edge of the fosse around the motte. There is also a short length of bank, out of line with the enclosing bank of the motte, running roughly N-S but more westerly than the enclosing bank which does not survive at this point, which though very compact and bank-like, may also be the result of adjacent quarry activity. The U-shaped bailey (diam. 42.5m N-S; 35.5m E-W) has a relatively flat interior, surrounded by an earthen bank, most pronounced in the N and E quadrants (Wth crest 6.1m; base 14.2m; int. H 1.08; ext. H 5.2m) where the bank is broad and stoney and falls very steeply to the exterior. Low bank along W side (Wth crest 2m; base 4.6m; int. H 0.7m) largely reduced to scarp with stone protruding from top edge of scarp. In the SSW quadrant of the bailey the bank flattens out, this may be the remains of an original ramped entrance or may be result of damage to the monument. East of this possible ramp the bank of the bailey reduces in external height to 1.1m with an external berm (Wth c. 12m) and evidence of a short length of outer bank (Wth crest 2m; base 6.7m; int. H 0.45m; ext .H 1.8m) which again maybe associated with an original entrance arrangement or may be due to later disturbance.