Located in low-lying ground west of the River Barrow, this impressive earthwork consists of a circular, flat-topped motte rising about six metres high with a summit diameter of thirteen metres. A defensive ditch, or fosse, approximately three metres wide and two metres deep separates the motte from its western bailey; the bailey itself being surrounded by another substantial fosse measuring roughly 4.5 metres wide and four metres deep on the southwestern side. Aerial photography from 1991 revealed far more than what’s visible from ground level: cropmarks showing a wide fosse enclosing the upstanding motte, three concentric fosses defining the levelled bailey extending from the modern field boundary towards the River Barrow, and intriguingly, a ring of pits within the bailey area alongside traces of what may be a medieval trackway to the southwest.

The site’s complex history becomes clearer when examining historic maps. The 1838 Ordnance Survey six-inch map shows the motte and bailey within a tree plantation on the landscaped grounds of Kilmorony House, which stood 280 metres to the northwest. On this early map, the motte appears at the centre of a large circular bailey, raising the fascinating possibility that the Anglo-Normans, who likely built their fortification here in the late 12th or early 13th century, were actually refortifying an earlier prehistoric enclosure. The revised 25-inch Ordnance Survey map tells another chapter in the site’s evolution; by then the motte was marked as ‘The Mound’ with a circular tower shown on its summit, suggesting the 18th or 19th century owners of Kilmorony House had landscaped the ancient fortification and possibly built a summer house atop it.

Today, whilst the bailey has been largely levelled by centuries of agricultural use, the semi-circular field boundary that once defined its western edge can still be traced in the landscape, particularly visible in aerial photographs. The site represents layers of Irish history; from possible prehistoric origins through Anglo-Norman military architecture to Georgian estate ornamentation, each era leaving its mark on this strategically positioned earthwork overlooking the River Barrow valley. A large quarry now sits immediately to the southeast, but the motte itself continues to dominate the local landscape, a tangible link to the complex medieval history of the Irish midlands.