Where children now play on communal green spaces, a castle once stood, its exact location marked today only by local memory and archaeological records. The most visible survivor of this lost fortress is a 22-metre stretch of bawn wall along the southern edge of the estate, standing about 1.5 metres high; a fragment of what was once a substantial defensive enclosure. Originally, this wall would have formed part of a rectangular bawn measuring approximately 33 metres north to south and 50 metres east to west, protecting the castle that stood about 23 metres northeast of where the wall section remains today.

The transformation of this medieval site tells a familiar Irish story of changing times and repurposed spaces. By the 1830s, according to Ordnance Survey letters from that period, the castle had already fallen into ruin, with its walls incorporated into the garden boundaries of a house fronting Shinrone’s main street. The area became known locally as Bawnmore, and what remained of the fortress served the more peaceful purpose of enclosing a walled garden. When archaeologists monitored the site’s development into housing in 2004, they discovered tantalising glimpses of the past: a circular feature, possibly an old well, was found just north of the bawn wall and carefully preserved beneath the new development, whilst five carved stone fragments from the castle’s medieval windows were recovered from various locations across the site.

Today, visitors to Castle Court might easily miss the historical significance of this suburban setting, though the protected bawn wall section stands as a testament to the site’s former importance. The archaeological work ensured that while the area evolved to meet modern housing needs, key features were documented and preserved where possible. The castle site itself, though completely levelled, remains protected as a recorded monument, its presence marked on Ordnance Survey maps and in the collective memory of Shinrone’s residents who still refer to the area by its old name.