Rising approximately seven metres high with a twenty-metre diameter flat summit, this steep-sided earthen mound dates from the Norman period when such fortifications dotted the Irish landscape. The mound is partially surrounded by a defensive fosse, or ditch, measuring 4.5 metres wide, with an outer bank that rises up to a metre above the fosse floor. These defensive features are best preserved along the southeastern to southwestern sections, though traces remain visible extending northward.

Historical maps reveal the monument’s enduring presence in the landscape; the 1837 Ordnance Survey six-inch map shows it as a roughly oval, tree-planted earthwork, whilst by the 1913 revision it had acquired the annotation ‘Mote’, acknowledging its defensive origins. The summit once bore masonry structures, likely the remains of a timber or stone castle that would have crowned the motte, with two fragments still visible as recently as 2004. Aerial photography has revealed additional earthworks to the east that may mark the location of a bailey, the enclosed courtyard that typically accompanied these fortifications.

The site forms part of a broader medieval landscape at Portloman, with Nugent’s Castle lying just 130 metres to the north and Portloman House 200 metres to the northwest. Today, the tree-lined mound remains a substantial presence on the high ground, offering commanding views across the surrounding countryside and particularly over Lough Owel to the east. Its strategic positioning and surviving earthworks provide a tangible connection to the Norman colonisation of Ireland and the defensive networks they established to control newly conquered territories.