Mote

Circular steep-sided mound (H 2.9m, Diam at top c. 14m) with wide fosse (max. W. 14m, D. c. 1.50m) around on all but W side where it has been filled in. At the SE of the motte there appeared to be a very large bailey defined by a fosse on one side and a scarp on the other visited 13-06-91 and found to have been levelled. On small hillock in good pasture land overlooking bog to the N with church (OF011-005001-) nearby. No surface trace visible of levelled mound depicted on OS 6-inch map as a subcircular shaped mound. Local landowner described the site as a circular mound (approx. H 3-4m; diam 30 - 40m) with low berm enclosing the base of the mound. Bulldozed in the mid-1980s, animal bones were found within it, and ash spreads with charcoal were found both within and around the mound. Possible burial mound. Comerford (1883, 324) described the site as a large mound. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

Motte-and-bailey castle, medieval period (11th–13th centuries). Its significance lies in the defensive architecture typical of Norman and early Anglo-Irish settlements in Ireland.