When Austin Cooper documented the site in 1783, he noted its distinctive layout, which bore a remarkable resemblance to St. John’s Priory in Newtown Trim, County Meath; both structures were associated with the Fratres Cruciferi, a medieval religious order. The castle appeared in 18th-century illustrations for Grosse’s Antiquities of Ireland, preserving its appearance for posterity before the final remnants were cleared away in 1975.

Local tradition has long connected this site with the Knights Templars, though its documented history reveals it served as the ancestral seat of two prominent families. The Birminghams and later the Barnewalls held the castle as their family stronghold until the sixteenth century, when ownership transferred to the Lords of Howth, who maintained control of this strategic coastal position. The castle’s military and residential functions made it a significant landmark in north County Dublin’s medieval landscape.

Today, visitors to the site will find only an arable field crossed by a pathway leading to Baldongan church, with no visible traces of the once-substantial fortress. The complete removal of the castle’s physical remains means that its story survives solely through historical records, antiquarian drawings, and the enduring local memories of what once dominated this coastal hilltop. The site remains archaeologically significant despite its absence from the modern landscape, representing centuries of Dublin’s medieval heritage.