This castle site, located in the townland of Kilmacnevan, shouldn’t be confused with the medieval castle of Ballintue that lies just over a kilometre to the south-southeast. That other castle appears on the Down Survey map of Kilmacnevan parish from 1654-59, where it’s described in the accompanying terrier as a castle “lately ruined” in Ballintue.

The 1837 Ordnance Survey Fair Plan map shows this particular site as a rectangular area measuring roughly 22 metres northwest to southeast and 36 metres northeast to southwest, simply labelled “Site of Castle”. Today, visitors will find a series of low earthen banks and shallow depressions that trace the outline of the former structure. Just 35 metres to the north lies a ringfort, whilst the Royal Canal passes by at a distance of 85 metres in the same direction.

At the base of the hill, particularly to the southeast and south, a complex network of grass-covered banks creates small enclosures that likely represent the remains of a medieval settlement associated with the castle above. These earthworks form an intriguing archaeological landscape, suggesting this was once a thriving community centred around the now-vanished fortification. The strategic positioning of the castle, with its excellent defensive vantage point and proximity to both earlier prehistoric monuments and later canal infrastructure, tells a story of continuous occupation and importance throughout different periods of Irish history.