Where once a castle stood, now only cereal crops wave in the breeze, with no visible remains breaking the surface of the agricultural landscape. The location appears on both the 1839 and 1940 editions of the Ordnance Survey six-inch maps, marked in gothic lettering as the castle site; a cartographic ghost of a vanished structure.

The castle’s historical footprint emerges from documentary evidence rather than physical remains. The Civil Survey of 1654-6 mentions Arnestown Castle as a landmark when describing the boundary between the parishes of Old Ross and New Ross, suggesting it was still a recognisable feature in the mid-17th century. The same survey reveals that in 1641, thirty acres at Arnestown belonged to Nicholas Dormer, identified as an Irish papist, providing a glimpse into the religious and social dynamics of pre-Cromwellian Ireland.

Like many Irish castles and tower houses, Arnestown likely fell victim to the tumultuous events of the 17th century, whether through deliberate destruction during the Cromwellian conquest or gradual abandonment and decay. Today, its absence speaks as loudly as any ruins might; a reminder that Ireland’s medieval landscape was once far more densely populated with fortified dwellings than the scattered survivors might suggest.