The Down Survey maps from 1655-6 mark this spot with ‘a Castle and Cabbins’, whilst the accompanying terrier provides more detail, noting the presence of ‘a Castle & a Church and Cabbin with a Mill’. These buildings belonged to Thomas Shortall, an Irish Catholic landowner, and were depicted within a distinctive triangular area that matches the unusual southern boundary of the modern townland.

The platform itself measures 25 metres north to south and 21 metres east to west, rising about a metre above the surrounding landscape. A berm runs along its eastern and southern sides, whilst a waterlogged defensive ditch, or fosse, protects the western and northern edges. This northern ditch is fed by a diverted stream, suggesting careful water management that would have been essential for both defence and the documented mill. The site sits strategically between a north-south road to the east and an east-west stream to the south, where the 1839 Ordnance Survey map marks an ancient ford crossing.

Whilst the exact locations of the individual buildings remain uncertain, the platform likely supported at least one of the structures shown on the Down Survey map, possibly the castle or mill. By 1900, the Ordnance Survey recorded a lime kiln in the centre of the field, and numerous small quarry holes and limestone outcrops still visible today tell of later industrial use. This layering of history, from medieval fortification to early modern estate to industrial site, makes this corner of Ballyroe a compelling example of how Irish landscapes accumulate stories over centuries.