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Pigeon House (in Ruins)

Castle, motte
Pigeon House (in Ruins)
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What is recorded here

Monasteroris still holds a low stone mound where a pigeon house once flew above the Offaly fields. The ruined chamber barely stands, yet its narrow bones suggest a place built to watch the sky and keep the monastery supplied. Birds may have crowded the broken roof while people moved through the earthworks below, turning a small castle into a living archive of feathers and flour.
Low mound (max. H 5-6m, diam. base c. 35m E-W) with remains of stone building (max. dims. 8.40m N-S, 8m E-W) on top marked as pigeon house (OF011-01003-). Bank with mainly stone in it surrounds base of mound and appears mostly as a berm. The building on top could be a late medieval pigeon house. Extensive earthworks to E of site. Located on flat land with good views in all directions. Flat topped mound (H 4m; base diam 24.5m; top diam 4m) with enclosing berm visible at base of mound on S side only. On top of the mound there are the poorly preserved remains of a building marked on the OS 6-inch map as 'Pigeon House' probably associated with the nearby monastery (OF011-009001-). 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

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What survives
Recorded monument

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