The castle appears on Petty’s Down Survey barony map from 1656-8, marked with a tower symbol that hints at its former presence in this rural landscape. This mapping project, undertaken in the aftermath of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, provides one of the few surviving records of the structure’s existence.

When antiquarian Oliver Davies visited the site in 1947, he documented walls made of mortar and rubble that enclosed a rectangular area. Despite these physical remains, Davies expressed scepticism about their ancient origins, suggesting the structure might have been of more recent construction than its designation as a castle would imply. His observations, recorded in the Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan, represent the last documented sighting of any above-ground remains at the site.

Today, the location offers little for the casual observer; the walls Davies described have since disappeared entirely from view. The site remains significant primarily as a historical reference point, its former importance preserved only in 17th-century maps and archaeological records. For those interested in tracing Ireland’s vanished castles and tower houses, Rantavan serves as a reminder of how thoroughly time and neglect can erase even substantial stone structures from the landscape.