Duneight Motte and Bailey

A fine Anglo-Norman motte and bailey, strategically sited on the north bank of the Ravernet River to command the valley route. The motte is triangular in plan, separated from the bailey by a ditch. The bailey is a truncated oval, protected by a ditch and bank and an extra ditch to the east, but on the river side (south) the defences are less formidable. Excavation in 1961 showed that the bailey was a remodelled pre-Norman enclosure. Parts of wooden and stone buildings were found in this enclosure and slighter structures outside to the east. It can probably be identified with Dún Echdach, royal fort of Dál Fiatach kings, mentioned in the annals in 1003 and in 1010, when a distinction was made between the dún (fort) and baile (perhaps the settlement outside). Excavation also uncovered a collared urn with a cremation burial, evidence of activity beside the river in the Bronze Age.

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