AR2042 (19)

EARTH AND TIMBER

CASTLES

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 Castles and castellation
• A number of earthwork types were
used in the early years of the conquest,
to replaced, at a later date by stone
fortifications
• But for the period under review the
term ‘castle’ can be used for all types
of Anglo-Norman fortification

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 Pre-Norman castles
• Tom McNeill has argued that there is
evidence that points to the existence of pre-
Norman castles
• There is on the one hand documentary
evidence from the Irish Annals which has
been collected by Donnchada O’Corráin
(mostly in the Annals of Tigernach),
• These relate to the areas controlled by the
O’Connors, the kings of Connaught from
the 1120s onwards

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 Pre-Norman castles
• In these accounts the Irish word caistel
or caislen (a Latin loan word, from
castellum) is used to described certain
sites associated with the O’Connors.
• But this same term is used in the
Annals after 1169 to describe Anglo
Norman castles

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 Ringworks
• These are univallate, bank and ditch
enclosures, and this basic morphology
has often made it difficult to
distinguish these from early medieval
ringforts, particularly if a site
overgrown or is poor condition
• However, if this is not the case then
certain distinguishing characteristics
can be discerned:

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 Ringworks
• In Ireland the ringwork fosse will
generally be wider than either ringforts
or, indeed, of most English ringwork
castles
• The banks are generally both wider and
steeper than those of ringforts
• The entrance will have a pronounced
ramp
• Each of the entrance terminals will
commonly be reveted (i.e. faced with
stone)
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 Ringworks

Drumsawry, Co. Meath

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 Ringworks
Stone facing

Berm
Loughcrew,
Co. Meath

Drumsawry,
Co. Meath

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Ringworks

Rathroane,
Co. Meath

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Ringworks

Partial ringwork,
Dunnanmark,
Co. Cork

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Ringworks

Partial ringwork,
Ballysimon,
Co. Limerick

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 Ringworks
• The location of ringworks is also
different:
• Ringforts are sited on summits of high
ground, on hill slopes and are most
commonly isolated from other sites,
and are by no means always
defensively located

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 Ringworks
• Ringworks are invariably sited on the
summit of ridges or hillocks (the opposite of
ringforts),
• They also prefer locations that have
defensive potential, such as natural
promontories, cliffs or even marshy land on
a slight rise.
• The ringworks at Meelick on the Shannon
and at Clonard co. Meath are each located
near large rivers.
• On present evidence, 90 ringwork castles
have been identified in Ireland

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Ringworks

Trim Castle, Co.

Meath, c. 1172-74

Ringwork ditch

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Ringworks

Trim, Co.
Meath, c. 1172

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Ringworks

Trim, Co.
Meath, c. 1173

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Ringworks

Trim, Co.
Meath

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 Ringworks

Castle Barrett, Co.

Cork
Trim, Co.
Meath

Castle Barrett, Co. Cork

Ringwork ditch

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 Ringworks

Castle Barrett, Co.

Cork
Trim, Co.
Meath

Ringwork ditch

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 Raised raths
• These are generally a roughly circular raised
earthen platform, enclosed by a ditch or
fosse
• Two Co. Down examples Rathmullen and
Gransha have been excavated in recent
times

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Cahervagliar, Co. Cork 23
 Raised raths
• Rathmullen produced evidence for four
phases of pre-Norman occupation
• The mound component is invariably flat-
topped, while the entrance usually consists
of a causeway with a slight ramp

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Raised
raths

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 Mottes
• This the earthwork castle most popularly
associated with the Anglo-Norman
settlement of Ireland
• The term motte itself is derived from mota or
motta, which in early periods was used to
designate the earthworks

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Mottes

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Granard, Co. Longford

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Medieval field boundary

Entrance

Bailey

Motte

Ditch

Granard, Co. Longford

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 View to west

View to north

Granard, Co. Longford

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 Motte

View to west

View to north

Moylough motte, Co. Westmeath 31

 View to west

Fortified church

Motte
View to north

Moylough motte, Co. Westmeath 32

View to west

View to north

Moylough motte, Co. Westmeath 33

View to west

View to north

Knockgraffon motte, Co. Tipperary 34

 Motte

View to west

View to east Bailey

Knockgraffon motte, Co. Tipperary

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 Church

View to west

View to east
Motte and Bailey
castle

Knockgraffon motte,
Co. Tipperary

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Lissardowlan, Co. Longford

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 Mottes

Glebe, Co. Westmeath 38

Mottes

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Mottes

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St Mullins, Co. Carlow 41
St Mullins, Co. Carlow 42
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Loughcrew, Co. Meath
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Loughcrew, Co. Meath
 Mottes

Killyglen, Co. Antrim

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 Mottes
Killyglen, Co. Antrim

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 Mottes
• On English mottes the bailey was generally
big enough to hold a series of functionally
related buildings
• These included a hall, while the motte would
have been equipped with a wooden tower, or
final stage of defense for refuge
• The Ulster mottes in particular are small in
comparison to the English ones, and could
clearly not have accommodated a hall

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 Distribution
• The distribution of mottes is largely
confined to the eastern half of the
country
• In the Republic of Ireland than are
around 456 known sites, of which the
province of Leinster alone had some
275
• Less than 16% of the total are found
outside Leinster, Antrim and Down

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Distribution

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Distribution

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 Distribution
• Only 23% of the mottes in Ulster have
baileys, while the mottes themselves are
noticeably smaller than elsewhere
• Some 149 (44%) of the 350 mottes in the 26
counties have baileys, and there is a
noticeable concentration of mottes and
baileys on the borders of the Earldom of
Ulster
• Most of these mottes with small baileys
probably served as lookouts

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 Dating
• Although motte and bailey castles in Ireland
are generally associated with the foundation
of the colony, they were still being put up
well into the 1220s
• In at least one instance at Moydew Glebe,
Co. Longford, as late as 1261
• In some instances they were still being used
as fortifications as late as the 16th century

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 Location/siting

• The essential defensive function of mottes

finds them located in commanding
positions, and near rivers and churches
• There are also apparent hierarchies: smaller
mottes are found in isolated areas on the
borders of manors, indicating that they
belonged to sub-tenants
• In counties Cavan, Meath, Carlow, Laois,
Wicklow, Offaly and Dublin, at least one
quarter of the known sites are near medieval
churches

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 Excavated mottes

• With the exception of Lurgankeel in Co.

Louth, nearly all of the excavated
examples are in the six counties
• The Lurgankeel site had a tower and an
encircling palisade

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 Excavated mottes

• The Anglo-Normans also converted existing

ringforts into mottes: three of the excavated
sites in Co. Down – Rathmullan, Lismahon
and Castleskreen – along with a site at
Dunsilly, Co. Antrim were also built on
ringforts
• M. J. O’Kelly suggested that Beal Boru, co.
Clare was actually an unfinished motte.

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