The motte itself is a circular, grass-covered mound standing roughly 4.5 to 4.7 metres high, with a flat top measuring about 5 metres across. At its base, the mound spans 28 metres and is surrounded by a defensive ditch, or fosse, that’s still visible today, particularly on the northern and eastern sides where it reaches depths of over a metre.

Attached to the eastern side of the motte lies the bailey; a diamond-shaped enclosure stretching 62 metres from east to west and 25 metres from north to south. This lower courtyard would have served as the main living and working area of the fortification, protected by its own fosse that remains visible as a scarp about half a metre high along the south-eastern edge. The original entrance to the bailey can still be identified at the southern corner, where a 6.5-metre gap breaks the defensive earthwork.

These motte and bailey castles were introduced to Ireland by the Anglo-Normans in the late 12th century, serving as rapid-deployment fortifications that could be constructed using local labour and materials. The wooden structures that once crowned the motte and filled the bailey have long since vanished, leaving only the earthworks to mark this strategic site. Today, both motte and bailey lie beneath a covering of grass, their contours softened by centuries of weathering but still clearly readable in the landscape.