The island, measuring roughly 240 metres north to south and 95 metres east to west, now lies under pasture and shows little evidence of its former significance. Yet aerial photography from 1977 revealed what ground surveys could not: the ghostly outline of a diamond-shaped bawn, or defensive wall, stretching 200 metres from northwest to southeast and 90 metres from northeast to southwest, with what appears to be a circular turret at its southeastern point.

Historical records from the Civil Survey of 1654-5 paint a picture of what once stood here: two thatched houses with chimneys, protective walls, several cabins, and an orchard, all under the ownership of Edmund Butler of Clocully and his father Thomas, Lord Baron of Cahir. The aerial photographs show a rectangular structure, likely one of these houses, built into the northern apex of the bawn, cleverly using two of the defensive walls as part of the building itself. While some historians have suggested these references might relate to nearby Clocully Castle, located 250 metres to the northeast, the cropmarks clearly confirm the presence of a separate fortified compound on the island itself.

Today, the island regularly floods during high water, and none of these structures remain visible above ground. The site represents a fascinating example of how Ireland’s turbulent history lies hidden just beneath the surface; fortified homesteads like this one were common during the plantation period, when landowners needed to balance agricultural productivity with defensive capabilities. The Butler family’s choice of an island location would have provided natural protection, though the regular flooding that now obscures the site may well have contributed to its eventual abandonment.