Dunnamona

About

Dunnamona is a motte-and-bailey and National Monument in County Westmeath, Ireland.

Dunnamona motte is located next to a tributary of the Owenacharra River, 4.7 km (2.9 mi) east of Tubberclare.

Motte-and-bailey castles were a primitive type of castle built by the Norman invasion, a mound of earth topped by a wooden palisade. This region, known as Tethbae, was allotted to the Dillon family, descendants of Sir Henry de Leon (c. 1176 – 1244). They built the motte at Dunnamona (" hillfort of peat ") as well as another at Drumraney, later abandoning the mottes for permanent stone castles.