The site consists of a low, flat-topped mound rising three metres high with a six-metre diameter summit, likely where a wooden tower once stood. To its south lies a rectangular bailey, enclosed by a substantial earth and stone bank that measures 6.5 metres wide at its base and rises 1.7 metres on its exterior face. A four-metre gap in the eastern section appears to mark the original entrance, whilst a low earthen bank connecting to the southeast corner may represent either an earlier field boundary or an ancient access route to the fortification.

The monument has suffered considerable damage over the centuries; quarrying has carved into the northwest sector of the mound and removed much of the western side of the bailey from north to south. This quarrying activity has altered the bailey’s appearance, transforming what the Ordnance Survey’s 6-inch map depicted as circular into what now appears rectangular. A modern road cuts through the northern perimeter, running east to west across the site. Just 70 metres to the north stands a church, suggesting this hilltop has long held strategic and spiritual importance for the local community.

Historical records hint at the site’s significance in centuries past. The Civil Survey of 1654-6 mentions the ‘street of Rathkienane’, whilst the Strafford Survey of 1637 depicts a castle at Rathkenan, which likely refers to this very motte and bailey. Local historian Smyth noted references to both a castle and church that may have appeared on the Down Survey maps of the area, though these early cartographic records remain elusive. These documentary fragments, combined with the physical remains, paint a picture of a once-formidable Norman fortification that dominated this corner of Tipperary’s landscape.