This impressive earthwork is believed to be a relic from the castle of John de Hereford, the area’s first Anglo-Norman proprietor, and likely served as the focal point for an associated village. The monument sits on a gentle slope at the southern end of a low pasture ridge, about 100 metres south of a cluster of medieval ecclesiastical remains that crown the northern heights.

The centrepiece of this defensive structure is a remarkably well-preserved motte; a circular earthen mound that rises 7.5 metres high with a base spanning roughly 43 metres. Its steep sides once made it formidable to attackers, whilst traces of a low earthen bank can still be seen curving along its upper surface. Around the base, a defensive ditch or fosse still encircles much of the mound, though time and nature have softened its edges. Today, badgers have made their home in the upper reaches, their burrowing exposing gravel that spills down the eastern slopes, whilst oak and beech trees have taken root in the old defensive ditch.

To the south of the motte lies a large, sub-rectangular bailey; an enclosed courtyard that would have housed the castle’s everyday activities. This space stretches approximately 60 metres east to west and 46 metres north to south, defined by scarps that rise between 1.6 and 2.2 metres high. Within the bailey, closest to the motte, a slightly raised rectangular platform suggests where important structures once stood, perhaps the lord’s hall or administrative buildings. A small enclosure attached to the southeast corner of the bailey hints at additional defensive or domestic arrangements, completing this snapshot of Norman military architecture adapted to the Irish landscape.