Mysterious St Mullins
No 2 The Motte and Bailey of St Mullins
Or is it The Tumulus of St Mullins?
When you arrive in St Mullins the green is dominated by a large mysterious mound which historians will tell us is a Motte and Bailey, that’s a big mound of earth and stone with a wooden fort on top. They, who know everything locally, say it was the Normans who stuck their wooden fort on top of the mound that was there for years and years, ancient it was. The Normans were dastardly invaders from France who arrived in 1169 and they used the fort to guard the river, that was their way in and out of St Mullins and it kept them safe when the local tribes’ men attacked.
Ireland was covered in thick forest; it was very hard to get through so the best way not to be mugged by the Carlow gang was to come up river. Around the mound they dug out a dry mote and put spikes on top to slow down the attacking natives. The strange part of the mound is the tale that it was the burial ground of a Great chieftain who was buried standing up with his spear and shield ,he fought alongside our famous warrior Chu Chulainn .You might ask have the archaeologists ever dug into the mound to see what’s inside? Not on your life, there are things in this life that are best left alone fairies and Leprechauns are not to be messed with. When all the motor way building and road works were going on you would be surprised how many times certain areas had to be avoided lest the unknown be disturbed .The local children use cardboard boxes to slide down the Motte into the surrounding mote blissfully unaware of what may lie beneath and the battles that once raged in this spot. Wise men observing from the pub across the green believe the Motte is shrinking or maybe it is descending into the other world beneath. Stand with the Motte at your back and look across the green to the pub now that’s where the village of St Mullins was. When the dangerous St Mullins folk got frisky and mounted an attack on the village the Normans would jump up from the dinner table leaving the half-eaten dinner behind, run up into their fort and slam the door. On the walls of the wooden fort they had cow hides, skins that they poured water over so flaming arrows couldn’t set them on fire, can you imagine the smell? Along with the Normans were Welsh archers these lads had the big long bows like in Robin Hood and they could stick an arrow in you long before our lads had a chance to throw a spear. Just be careful when you climb to the top there are tales of people disappearing into the underworld never to be heard of again.
