This imposing earthwork, rising approximately 4.5 metres high and perched some 9 metres above the road below, has dominated the pastoral landscape for centuries. The monument sits on its hillock with another larger hill to the southeast, whilst a public road runs north to south along its western base. Though a now-disused quarry has eaten into the northern portion of the hill, the mound itself remains largely intact, measuring roughly 43 metres north to south and 40 metres east to west according to historic Ordnance Survey maps from 1839 and 1900.

The Irish Tourist Association’s 1945 survey provides fascinating details about the monument’s structure. The oval-shaped summit measures approximately 18 metres at its longest point and 7 metres at its widest, surrounded at the base by what appears to be a slightly sunken fence or ditch with a circuit of about 110 paces. Whilst local folklore has cast this as an ancient burial mound or tumulus associated with druids, archaeological assessment suggests a rather different purpose; the defensive positioning and distinctive morphology point to this being a motte, a type of medieval fortification introduced to Ireland by the Anglo-Normans in the late 12th century.

The proximity to Clarabricken Castle, located just 185 metres to the southwest, further supports this interpretation. Mottes were typically constructed as part of the motte-and-bailey castle design, where a wooden or stone keep would be built atop an artificial or enhanced natural mound, providing a strategic vantage point for controlling the surrounding territory. The transformation of this military earthwork into a “druid’s grave” in local memory speaks to the layers of history and mythology that accumulate around ancient monuments in the Irish landscape, where medieval fortifications become entangled with much older Celtic traditions.