The earthwork sits about 700 metres west-southwest of an early monastery that later became the parish church. After Hugh de Lacy granted the barony of Morgallion to Gilbert de Nangle sometime after 1172, this motte likely appeared on the landscape shortly thereafter, serving as the administrative centre of the Norman lord’s new territory.

The motte itself is a substantial earthen mound, rising between 7 and 7.6 metres high with a flattened summit measuring roughly 28.5 metres by 23.6 metres. A wide defensive ditch, or fosse, encircles the base of the mound, reaching depths of up to 3.3 metres in places, whilst an outer bank provides additional fortification, particularly on the southeastern and southern sides where it reaches 2.5 metres in height. The entire complex spans about 80 metres at its widest point. Faint traces of a bank remain visible at the summit, where a wooden tower or palisade would have once stood.

Beyond the main motte, the site includes two distinct bailey areas that would have housed ancillary buildings and provided space for daily activities. To the west and north, a crescent-shaped platform bounded by scarps and ditches likely served as one bailey, whilst to the south, a rectangular area approximately 60 by 50 metres extends from the motte, defined by scarps and traces of a fosse that gradually merge into the natural hillslope. Today, the grass-covered mound is dotted with mature deciduous trees and scrub vegetation, and a now-defunct railway line cuts through the western edge of the southern bailey, adding a layer of more recent history to this medieval fortification.