What is recorded here

Indicated is a vast oval enclosure in County Kildare, Ireland, where deep fosses and a slight bank once surrounded Jigginstown House, Castle Rag and a medieval gatehouse. The ditches may have defended the place, but they also shaped gardens and carried rain away. Modern roads and buildings have covered much of the evidence, yet the old lines still mark the boundary between human ambition and living land.

The E-half (NNE-E-SSE) of a very large, possibly oval enclosure (est. diam. c. 150m N-S ) is defined by an inner, flat-bottomed fosse (Wth 3m; D 1.4m), a slight, outer earthen bank, and a second, narrower, outer fosse (Wth 1.5m; D 1.4m). A field wall running N-S over the visible S-limits of the fosses contains two wide, flat, relieving-arches in line with them. These features would appear to have enclosed Jigginstown House (KD019-033001-) and garden (KD019-033003-), together with Castle Rag (KD019-034----) a small tower house, and a medieval gatehouse (KD019-032----). While the fosses may have been partly defensive, they probably also served landscaping and drainage functions. Modern development works have removed some surface elements, but sub-surface features are likely to survive intact. In 1996, archaeological monitoring (Licence no. 96E132: www.excavations.ie) of the excavation of a gas-pipe trench (Wth 0.85m; D 0.95-1.3m) along the main road running E-W through the enclosed area in front of Jigginstown House revealed that the road level had been built up in relatively modern times with an infill deposit of stone and clay which produced modern pottery. The original ground surface, a light yellow clay, lay at 1.3m below existing ground level. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 3/2000).

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