What remains today is a fascinating archaeological puzzle: the castle site, marked on the Down Survey map of 1656-59, stands within what appears to be a rectangular bawn enclosure, though centuries of decay have reduced it to low, grass-covered earthworks. The site forms the centrepiece of an intricate landscape of historical monuments, with a ringfort and ancient field system immediately to the southwest, a motte and bailey castle 240 metres to the east-southeast, and the medieval church and graveyard of Killare less than half a kilometre away.

The earthworks surrounding the castle reveal tantalising glimpses of a once-thriving settlement. A linear earthwork running northwest to southeast past the castle likely marks an old road, whilst the foundations of hut sites and a long rectangular building lie to the west. North of the castle, the wall footings of a sub-rectangular enclosure contain three more hut sites, possibly representing another bawn or defensive structure. To the south, fragmented banks and earthworks hint at houses and small enclosures, though their exact purpose remains difficult to interpret. Some of these features may relate to a disused quarry immediately east of the castle, but aerial photographs from 2011 clearly show the relationship between the ringfort, its associated field system, and the castle complex with its surrounding earthworks.

This concentration of archaeological features suggests Killarecastle was once the heart of a clustered medieval settlement, complete with defensive structures, dwellings, and agricultural systems. The proximity to St. Bridget’s holy well and church, just 150 metres south, along with the later addition of a post-medieval corn mill to the northeast, demonstrates the site’s continued importance through the centuries. Protected under a preservation order since 1986, these ruins offer a remarkable window into the layered history of medieval Irish settlement patterns, where castles, churches, and agricultural communities existed in close proximity, shaping the landscape we see today.