Deanery Banks

Situated at the crest of an E-facing slope at the E side of Belturbet town, with the ground sloping away to the N and S also. Davies (1948, 100) recorded that this site was constructed by Col. Wolseley in 1689. Bradley and Dunne (OPW 1989, 27) were of the opinion that the site was probably 'originally square with triangular platform bastions set inside each of the four corners'. It is a rectangular area (int. dims c. 30m NNW-SSE; c. 38m ENE-WSW) defined by large earthen ramparts and outer fosses. The WSW side survives complete together with the adjacent part of the bank and fosse at SSE and the bank at NNW. At WSW there is a large earthen rampart with an external fosse. The NNW rampart (Wth of base 7m; Wth of top 3.5m; int. H 2.5m; ext. H c. 3m) has been incorporated into a field boundary. There is a wide break (Wth 4m) in the centre of the WSW rampart with an outer causeway (Wth of top 2.6m; H 0.8-0.9m), and a smaller gap (Wth 0.8m) in the N rampart. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 14 November, 2014