The site appears on the Down Survey barony map of Deece from 1656-8, shown as a roofless structure at Ballrisken, offering a tantalising glimpse into its state following the tumultuous years of the Cromwellian conquest. Historical records from the Civil Survey of 1654-6 reveal that Sir Edward Bolton held 140 acres here in 1640, with a stone house standing on the property; a structure significant enough to be marked as a ‘Castle’ on Ordnance Survey maps well into the early 20th century.

Today, visitors to the site will find a rectangular earthwork measuring approximately 22 metres from east-northeast to west-southwest and 14 metres from north-northwest to south-southeast. The area is defined by low grassy banks, roughly 5 metres wide, that rise about 30 centimetres on the interior side and 60 centimetres on the exterior. Along the northern edge runs a fosse, or defensive ditch, also about 5 metres wide, which would have provided additional protection to the structure that once stood here.

The transformation from Sir Edward Bolton’s stone house to these subtle earthworks tells a broader story of Ireland’s turbulent 17th century. The fact that the building was already roofless by the time of the Down Survey suggests it may have been damaged or abandoned during the Confederate Wars of the 1640s or the subsequent Cromwellian campaign. What remains today serves as a quiet reminder of the landed gentry who once controlled these fertile Meath lands, their fortified houses now reduced to gentle undulations in the landscape, their stories preserved only in old maps and surveys.