What is recorded here

Indicated, Middletown (ballaghkeen By., Ardamine Ed) is a motte and bailey castle on Wexford sand-dunes, its flat-topped scrub mound rising six metres above the sea-shore. Tradition holds that it marks Ard Ladhran, the burial place of a mythical warrior, while the surviving bailey and nearby stone cross suggest a lived-in defensive site rather than a mere story mound. The castle may have watched the coast, sheltered people or marked a boundary, but the dunes have taken most of its shape. What remains is enough to imagine lamps, doors and footsteps inside the lost walls.

Situated on the sand-dunes overlooking the sea-shore c. 100m to the E. This is a flat-topped, scrub-covered earthen mound (dims. of top 7m N-S: 5m E-W; H 6m; diam. of base c. 25m). The remains of a bailey (dims 10m N-S; 10m E-W) are SE of the motte but it may have extended further W. The stone cross (WX012-009002-) is c. 15m to the N, and the church site (WX012-009003-) is c. 140m to the N. It is traditionally thought to be Ard Ladhran, the burial place of a mythical warrior (Ua Dubhghaill 1925, 90). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007

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