Located in Carrigeen, within the historic barony of Gowran, this site appears today as little more than a raised square platform, roughly 28 metres across and half a metre high, surrounded by low, wet ground on three sides. A modern road cuts along its southern edge, possibly obscuring what once completed the castle’s defensive perimeter. Traces of an old fosse, about three metres wide, can still be detected on the northern, eastern and western sides, hinting at the fortifications that once protected this stronghold.

The castle’s history stretches back centuries, with documentary evidence suggesting it may be the same “Stone House Ruined” recorded at Cappagh in the Down Survey of 1655-6. This comprehensive land survey, conducted in the aftermath of the Cromwellian conquest, listed Henry Archer as the property’s owner in 1640. However, local historian Carrigan writing in 1905 tells a different tale, claiming the castle belonged to the Dobbin family until they lost it during the Cromwellian confiscations of 1653. According to his account, the castle stood in Brittawce, a subdivision of Kilkieran, with its location still remembered in local memory as the “castle field” to the southwest of Kilkieran churchyard.

Today, visitors to the site need a keen eye and some imagination to picture the fortress that once stood here. The raised platform and subtle earthworks are all that remain of what was likely a substantial defensive structure, one of two castles the Dobbins reportedly held in the area. Its strategic position, naturally defended by marshy ground on three sides, would have made it a formidable stronghold in its day; now it serves as a quiet reminder of the dramatic changes that swept through Ireland during the 17th century upheavals.