Rathmoyle, Coolcran, Co. Mayo

Co. Mayo |

Castle Features

Rathmoyle, Coolcran, Co. Mayo

In the pastoral landscape of Rathmoyle, Coolcran, County Mayo, a medieval moated site occupies the northern slope of a gentle rise, overlooking a natural wetland depression to the east.

This rectangular earthwork platform measures approximately 32.5 metres from north-northeast to south-southwest and 48 metres from east-southeast to west-northwest. The site's defining features include an earthen bank that forms its perimeter and an external fosse, or defensive ditch, that once provided additional protection to whatever structure stood within.

The earthen bank varies considerably in its state of preservation around the site. At its southern edge, where it remains most intact, the bank stretches 6.3 metres wide and rises to about 1.35 metres on the interior side and 1.5 metres on the exterior. Moving around the perimeter, however, the bank becomes increasingly degraded, particularly at the northeast and eastern sections where it survives merely as a low scarp, only half a metre in height. A slight internal lip can still be traced along portions of this reduced earthwork. The fosse that once encircled the entire platform is now visible only along the southern side, where it measures 4.4 metres wide and reaches a depth of 1.4 metres from the external ground level.

Today, brambles and thorn bushes have colonised the perimeter of this ancient site, whilst the interior remains as open grassland. The moated site doesn't stand in isolation; approximately 200 metres to the northeast lies a rath, catalogued as MA030-049, suggesting this area held significance for medieval settlement. These moated sites, typically dating from the Anglo-Norman period, served as fortified homesteads for colonial settlers or Gaelicised families adopting Norman defensive architecture.

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