Though marked as ‘Castle (in ruins)’ on the first edition Ordnance Survey map from 1842, no visible traces remain above ground today. Later maps would more cautiously label it simply as ‘site of’, acknowledging that even by Victorian times, the structure had completely vanished into the landscape.

The castle’s history remains frustratingly elusive. Unlike many of Cork’s medieval fortifications, which left behind records of their builders, inhabitants, or eventual destruction, Trantstown Castle seems to have slipped from memory almost without trace. What little documentation exists suggests it was already in ruins by the time formal surveying began in the 19th century, leaving modern historians to piece together its story from scattered references and the authority of those early mapmakers who deemed it significant enough to record.

The site today offers little to the casual observer; just pastureland on a gentle slope with views across the Cork countryside. Yet its inclusion in the Archaeological Inventory of County Cork confirms its historical significance, even if the castle itself has returned entirely to the earth. For those interested in Ireland’s lost heritage, Trantstown represents one of many defensive structures that once dotted the landscape, their stones long since carried away for other buildings, their stories largely forgotten.