Across the river, some 400 metres away, visitors today can still spot Clohamon Castle, though Ryland itself has vanished completely from the landscape. The castle belonged to Sir Morgan Kavanagh in the early 1600s before changing hands during the Cromwellian period when Lord Annesley acquired the property.

Historical accounts of the castle vary considerably, adding a layer of mystery to its true appearance. Some 19th-century sources described it as having a gatehouse complete with a portcullis and hinge stones, though this may have been a case of mistaken identity with the gatehouse at Borris moated site, located about 4.3 kilometres to the northeast. When antiquarian John O’Donovan visited around 1840, he recorded seeing only a substantial wall measuring twenty paces long, fifteen feet high, and six and a half feet thick; a far cry from the elaborate structure described by others.

The castle’s demise came in stages rather than all at once. Quarrying operations damaged the structure around 1900, leaving it significantly reduced. By 1980, only a single wall remained standing, devoid of any notable architectural features. When this final remnant was removed, the ground level in the area was lowered considerably, erasing the last physical traces of Ryland Castle. Today, nothing remains of this once-substantial fortification except its appearance on historical maps like the Down Survey barony maps and its entries in archaeological records.