What remains today is merely a fragment of what was once an impressive fortification; the north wall stretches 8.5 metres with short returns of the eastern and western walls, rising to what would have been the first-floor level. The structure appears on the 1842 Ordnance Survey map as a complete rectangular building, but by 1833, much of the castle had already collapsed when, as recorded by Lee in 1914, “a great part fell”.

Built by the MacCarthys, this castle once stood as a formidable square tower. According to Smith’s account from 1750, it was “an high square building, having 70 stone steps to the battlements”, suggesting it originally rose to a considerable height. The surviving architecture reveals sophisticated medieval construction techniques, including splayed window embrasures at both ground and first-floor levels, and an intriguing mural passage in the eastern wall that extends into the northern wall, cleverly accommodated at the northeast corner by a slight squinch. Stone corbels between the floors indicate where wooden floors once divided the interior space.

The castle’s military significance became apparent during the Nine Years’ War when it was captured by Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare in 1602, as the Gaelic lords made their last stand against English expansion into Munster. Today, visitors to this rough grazing land can trace the outlines of windows and passages in the weathered stones, imagining the fortress that once commanded this valley and played its part in the dramatic events that shaped modern Ireland.