Today, visitors will find a slightly raised square platform measuring roughly 33 by 36 metres, surrounded by the traces of an old moat; a wide, flat-bottomed ditch that once provided defensive protection. The platform rises between half a metre and a metre above the surrounding countryside, with a causewayed entrance still visible at the northeast corner, where medieval visitors would have crossed into the castle grounds.

The castle that once stood here was a substantial square tower, four storeys high and measuring about 8.2 metres on each side, with impressively thick walls of 1.6 metres. According to historical records from the Ordnance Survey Letters, the main entrance featured a pointed arch doorway on the eastern wall, positioned slightly off-centre to the south, with a staircase leading up to the northeast angle. The second and third floors were topped with barrel vaulting, a sophisticated architectural feature that provided both strength and fire resistance. By the time of the Civil Survey in 1654-6, the castle was still described as being ‘in repaire’, though accompanied only by the walls of a stone house and a few thatched cabins.

The site belonged to the Purcell family, with one Phillip Purcell of Cloyne listed as proprietor in the mid-17th century records, where he’s noted as an ‘Irish Papist’; a reminder of the religious tensions of the period. Aerial photography has revealed possible wall footings in the centre of the platform, whilst an old river bed immediately to the west shows evidence of a leat, an artificial watercourse that likely fed water into the moat at the northwest angle. These engineering features demonstrate the careful planning that went into medieval castle construction, where defence, water supply, and strategic positioning all played crucial roles in the design.