This circular defensive site, measuring nearly 30 metres across, consists of an earth and stone bank surrounded by a defensive ditch, or fosse. The bank rises between two and three metres on its exterior side, whilst the ditch adds another layer of protection around the perimeter. Faint traces of an additional outer bank can still be detected, suggesting this was once an even more formidable fortification.

The location was clearly chosen with defence in mind; the cliff edge provides natural protection whilst commanding views over the routeway that passes through the ravine below. This strategic positioning has led archaeologists to suggest this may be the site of a thirteenth-century castle belonging to the O’Dwyer clan, who held considerable power in this region during the medieval period. The 1945 Irish Tourist Association survey first proposed this connection, though definitive proof remains elusive.

Today, visitors can still trace the outline of this ringwork castle, which sits in close proximity to a seventeenth-century stronghouse and bawn to the southwest. These later fortifications demonstrate the enduring importance of this defensive position through the centuries, as successive generations recognised the value of controlling this crucial passage through the Tipperary landscape. The site offers a tangible connection to Ireland’s complex medieval past, when local clans like the O’Dwyers maintained their power through a network of such strategic fortifications.