Moated site in Killaraght

In undulating pasture, on the E side of a road and adjacent to the Sligo-Roscommon border. A raised square area (31m N-S; 31m E-W) enclosed by two earthen banks with intervening and external fosses. The inner bank (Wth 3.6m; int. H 0.4m; ext. H 1.1m) is flat-topped with a low internal rim and a steep-sided external slope. The outer bank (Wth 7.1m; int. H 1.5m; ext. H 1.6m) is flat-topped and broad based with steeply sloping sides and is substantial on the E and S sides. A section of the outer bank (L 14m) at the S end of the W side is levelled. The intervening fosse (Wth 2.6m) is flat-bottomed and steep-sided. The external fosse (Wth 2.5m; D 0.35m) is evident as a shallow depression on the E and S sides and is almost entirely silted-up elsewhere. The entrance is at the E end of the N side with gaps in the inner and outer banks (Wth 2m and 1.8m respectively) and a causeway (Wth 2.5m) across the fosse. A single large stone flanks the W side of the causeway. Immediately E of the entrance, the inner face of the external bank has a distinctive slump (Wth c. 2m; L c. 4-5m). The interior is level and grass-covered. There is a low sod-covered rise (c. 9.5m N-S; c. 3.6m E-W; H 0.3m) in the centre, with a line of closely set stones (L 2m) at the N end of the E side and possibly also on the W side. A relict field boundary extends for c. 55m from the SW corner of the moated site. Appended to the S side of this boundary, at its junction with the moated site, is a roughly triangular earthen platform (7.3m N-S; 16m E-W; H 0.55m). The garden of a recently constructed bungalow is 16m to W. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008