This rectangular structure, measuring 13.5 metres east to west and 8 metres north to south, is all that survives of what the Civil Survey of 1654-6 described as ‘an old ruinate castle’. The site offers a glimpse into the turbulent history of 17th-century Ireland, when the Betagh family controlled much of Moynalty parish.

In 1640, John Betagh owned 220 acres at Walterstown, along with the castle and a few cabins. The Betaghs were substantial landowners in the area; John also held property at Rathdrumnoe (now Rathmanoo) and Rathstephen, whilst other family members possessed nearly all of Moynalty parish. Despite this prominence, the castle mysteriously doesn’t appear on the Down Survey maps of 1656-8, those detailed records created after Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland. This absence suggests the structure may have already fallen into significant disrepair by that time.

Today, only the foundations remain visible in the woodland, marked on Ordnance Survey maps simply as a castle site. The hilltop location would have offered commanding views across the surrounding countryside, a strategic advantage for any medieval or early modern fortification. Archaeological surveys conducted in 1987 and revised in 2016 confirm the site’s historical significance, though the castle’s exact origins and the circumstances of its abandonment remain unclear.