The site formed part of the medieval territory of Ballinkeeny, where Ballikenny Castle once stood as a tower house near the boundary with Ballyclogher townland. Historical records paint a picture of its past; the Down Survey map of Killare parish from the 1650s shows the castle on lands belonging to Thomas Coffy, identified as an ‘Irish papist’, alongside mentions of several other castles throughout the parish including those at Clare, Dooneild, Rathskeagh, Killinbrack and Bishopsland.

The castle’s physical form has evolved through various historical mappings. Larkin’s 1808 map of County Westmeath depicts it as ruins of a castle or tower, whilst the 1837 Ordnance Survey shows a rectangular structure with its long axis running northeast to southwest. Curiously, by the 1913 revision of the Ordnance Survey maps, the structure appears circular, a shape that remains visible today through aerial photography. This transformation in its recorded appearance might reflect either changes to the structure itself or different interpretations by successive surveyors.

Though the castle itself has largely disappeared, its legacy lives on in unexpected ways. Punch dressed stonework from the medieval structure was salvaged and reused in a building constructed within a ringfort located 400 metres to the north. These architectural fragments include what appears to be part of a chamfered doorway arch and a punch dressed quoin, tangible reminders of the craftsmanship that went into the original castle. The site stands 250 metres north of Mosstown House, continuing to mark the landscape where medieval and modern history intersect.