Knockshee Moat, Broadleas Commons, Co. Kildare

Co. Kildare |

Ritual/Ceremonial

Knockshee Moat, Broadleas Commons, Co. Kildare

At the southern edge of a pasture terrace on Broadleas Commons in County Kildare, an oval mound sits in a state of quiet dilapidation. It is known locally as Knockshee Moat, and the name itself carries a suggestion of older significance: "knockshee" derives from the Irish "cnoc sí", meaning a fairy hill or mound associated with the otherworld. Whatever its original form and purpose, the structure has been considerably reduced by quarrying along its northern, eastern, and southern aspects, leaving an asymmetrical shape that now measures roughly 26 metres north to south and 17 metres east to west at its base.

The mound's summit narrows considerably, reaching just 1.2 metres east to west at its widest point in that direction, while the height varies from 2.4 metres at the western end to 3.6 metres at the eastern. This unevenness is almost certainly a consequence of the quarrying that has eaten into so much of the original mass. Mounds of this general type in Ireland range widely in origin, from prehistoric burial cairns to early medieval earthworks, and the "moat" element of the name is a common rural usage applied to any prominent raised earthwork rather than necessarily indicating a medieval fortification in the technical sense. The lightly overgrown surface and poor state of preservation make classification difficult, and the site offers more questions than answers about what once stood here.

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Pete F
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