According to Westropp’s early 20th century research, the site was owned in 1410 by Shane Burke, a descendant of the Richard Burke who held it in 1349. By 1583, the property comprised a castle and water mill under William Burke’s ownership. The castle changed hands several times over the following centuries; it was granted to Theobald, Lord Castleconnell in 1608, confirmed to Lord Brittas in 1633, and later passed to Captain Friend in 1666 following the Act of Settlement.

The Civil Survey of 1654;56 described the site as having ‘a Castle and a Mill in reparation’ under Lord Brittas’s ownership, whilst the 17th century Down Survey map depicts a two storey L-shaped house with a prominent chimneystack standing near the watermill. By 1827, the antiquarian Fitzgerald referred to it as ‘a fine old fortress near the residence of Benjamin Frend’, though the Ordnance Survey Letters noted that no ruins were standing by 1840.

Despite the absence of standing remains, the 1840 Ordnance Survey map reveals the castle’s impressive footprint: a rectangular enclosure measuring approximately 58 metres north to south by 26 metres east to west, complete with defensive walls and angle towers. The northeastern corner featured a circular tower, whilst the southeastern angle possibly housed a square tower. By the time of the 1897 Ordnance Survey map, the northern wall had been levelled and a quarry had cut into the southeastern corner, leaving only the circular tower standing free at the northeastern position as a reminder of this once formidable fortification.