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Moated site in Gorteenvacan

Moated site

What is recorded here

That is the largest rectangular moated enclosure in the Kildare inventory. The east edge is not a built wall but a living ridge, as if the earth completed the shape when human hands stopped. The west, south and north edges remain sharp enough for satellites to read, while the missing castle and its people have dissolved into pasture. Size and asymmetry, not legend, are what the site still speaks.
Aerial photograph (CUCAP AYL 48) shows a cropmark of the S, W and N sides of a large rectangular enclosure consisting of an earthen bank with an external fosse (dims. of interior, c 100m x c 50m). Cropmarks of the bank and fosse are visible at ground level. Also visible on a 1990 G. Barrett aerial photo (GB90.CL.33) Situated in undulating pasture land, with a ridge which is possibly natural, closing off the site at the E. A possible castle site (No.**) lies to the N. Date of upload: 8 September 2016

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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