In Clough, to the north of the town, there is this nice Motte-and-Bailey, built around the end of the 12th century during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ulster by a knight who was following John de Courcy on his trip to the North.
The motte and the bailey are two separate structures, two different mound of earth.
The motte is the larger of the two mounds, it's 7.5 metres high, and stands to the north. The bailey, where the domestic buildings were located, would stand on a kidney-shaped mound south of the motte, with a large and deep ditch between them. The two mounds were probably joined by a wooden bridge.
The timber buildings on both mounds are long gone, but on the larger mound a new stone tower was built in the 13th or 14th century. This stone tower was later enlarged to become a tower house. What we see today is only a part of the larger house built on the mound. Unfortunately a good part of the building extending to the northeast was destroyed by a fire due to the fact that the building had a thatched roof.
The access to the top of the motte is via a stone stepped path on the south (175°) side.
The views from the top of the higher mound, especially to the east, are stunning!
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