What remains today is a grass-covered mound of collapsed rubble, rising three metres high, with occasional glimpses of stone wall facing peeking through the vegetation. This castle once belonged to the Earl of Kildare in 1640 and was significant enough to feature prominently on the Down Survey map of 1656-9, where it’s shown standing beside a medieval road that connected it to the surrounding settlements.

The castle site forms the centrepiece of a remarkable archaeological landscape. Immediately to the southwest lie the earthworks of an ancient ringfort and its associated field system, whilst 150 metres south stand St. Bridget’s Church and holy well. The castle itself appears to have been enclosed within a bawn, a fortified courtyard typical of Irish tower houses, though today only low earth and stone banks hint at its rectangular outline. Within this enclosure, archaeologists have identified the wall footings of at least three hut sites and a long rectangular building, suggesting this was once a bustling settlement rather than an isolated fortress.

The complex earthworks surrounding the castle reveal layers of history that span centuries. A linear earthwork running northwest to southeast likely marks the course of the medieval road depicted on the Down Survey map; sections of this ancient route still influence the modern landscape, with part of it incorporated into today’s R390 Ballymore to Mullingar road. The fragmented banks and enclosures scattered around the castle mound may represent the remains of a clustered settlement that grew up around the fortress, though centuries of decay and stone robbing, possibly for the nearby quarry, have made definitive interpretation challenging. Protected since 1986 under a preservation order, these ruins offer a tangible connection to the Gaelic lordships and Anglo-Norman influences that shaped medieval Westmeath.