The site sits on elevated ground in an upland region, approximately 560 metres west of Coolquill Castle tower house. Though no access road has been provided through the plantation, historical records suggest this raised earthen mound was once a prominent feature in the area known as the ‘Old Deer Park’.

According to the Ordnance Survey letters from 1930, recorded by O’Flanagan, the structure was described as a moat measuring 50 paces in circumference at its base and standing about 16 feet (4.8 metres) high. The 25-inch Ordnance Survey map depicts it as a roughly circular raised area, measuring approximately 40 metres from north to south and 36 metres from east to west. These dimensions and characteristics strongly suggest this is indeed a motte, likely constructed to complement the nearby tower house and provide an earlier layer of defence for the area.

The monument’s current inaccessibility, surrounded as it is by commercial forestry, adds an air of mystery to this medieval earthwork. While the plantation has effectively sealed off the site from casual visitors and researchers alike, its preservation within this wooded sanctuary means it remains largely undisturbed. The connection between this possible motte and Coolquill Castle hints at a complex medieval settlement pattern in this part of Tipperary, where different phases of fortification evolved to meet changing defensive needs over the centuries.