What is recorded here

Ballyorley Upper is a circular ringwork castle on a NE-facing slope in County Wexford, Ireland. Its earthen bank stands 1.8 to 2.3m high around a 26m scrub-covered centre, with no visible entrance. A church site lies 80m to the NW, and geophysical survey revealed the ringwork sits at the SE edge of a much larger subcircular enclosure. The place may have served as a fortified residence or administrative centre for a local lord, its true entrance hidden beneath centuries of soil and scrub.

Located towards the top of a NE-facing slope. This is a circular scrub-covered area (diam. 26m) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 15m; H 1.8–2.3m) with an external silted fosse (Wth of top 5m; D 0.4m) beyond which is a scarp (Wth 12m) sloping up to the surface of the surrounding field. There is no visible entrance. The church site (WX021-022001-) is c. 80m to the NW. An extensive geophysical survey conducted for Kilkenny Archaeology revealed that the visible ringwork is at the SE edge of a subcircular enclosure (int. diam. 72m E-W; 68m N-S) defined by a fosse (Wth c. 5m) that appears to be attached to the fosse defining the ecclesiastical enclosure (WX021-022002-) (Ó Drisceoil 2009, 12). (Barry 1987, 52–3). 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: 15 June, 2012

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