| Dunnamona | |||||||||
| Native Name: | Dún na Móna | ||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | ga | ||||||||
| Map Type: | Ireland | ||||||||
| Coordinates: | 53.4995°N -7.7836°W | ||||||||
| Location: | Dunnamona, Drumraney, County Westmeath, Ireland | ||||||||
| Region: | Tethbae | ||||||||
| Type: | motte | ||||||||
| Diameter: | 36m (118feet) | ||||||||
| Height: | 9m (30feet) | ||||||||
| Builder: | Dillon family | ||||||||
| Material: | earth | ||||||||
| Built: | 12th century | ||||||||
| Epochs: | Norman Ireland | ||||||||
| Cultures: | Cambro-Norman, Old English | ||||||||
| Public Access: | yes | ||||||||
| Embedded: |
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Dunnamona is a motte-and-bailey and National Monument in County Westmeath, Ireland.[2]
Dunnamona motte is located next to a tributary of the Owenacharra River, 4.7km (02.9miles) east of Tubberclare.[3]
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.[4]