Located in rough pastureland surrounded by boggy ground to the north and west, with scrub encroaching from the south and east, the castle’s exact location wasn’t even marked on early Ordnance Survey maps from 1837 or their 1913 revision. What remains is a large mound that appears to be a natural rock outcrop, its base encircled by swampy terrain thick with reeds and rushes.

Upon closer inspection, the mound reveals subtle hints of its possible past. A raised, roughly rectangular platform crowns the summit, which could mark the foundations of the original castle structure, though no standing walls or masonry survive. The entire mound bears deep scars from quarrying activities, which have left it severely pock-marked and likely destroyed much of whatever archaeological evidence once existed. At the eastern end, a small rectangular area shows signs of later agricultural use, complete with the distinctive ridges of lazy beds and an accompanying drainage ditch; a common sight across Ireland where former habitation sites were repurposed for cultivation.

By 1981, surveyors reported no visible surface remains of the castle, and modern aerial photography reveals only the rock outcrop itself. The site serves as a reminder of how completely Ireland’s minor castles and fortifications can vanish from the landscape, leaving behind only subtle topographical clues and entries in historical records. For those interested in medieval Ireland, Dunlis Castle represents the countless small strongholds that once dotted the countryside but have since returned to the earth, their stories largely lost to time.