Though now invisible at ground level, this small rectangular fortress played a significant role in the complex territorial history of the Fews, an area within Drum parish. The earliest recorded military action here dates to 1392, when Cathal O’Conor attacked a castle in the Fews that was held by Nicol Mac Eochaidh (Keogh), demonstrating the strategic importance of fortifications in this region during the medieval period.

By the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the Naughten family had established themselves as the dominant landholders in the area. The 1641 records reveal John Mc Robert O’Naughten as the most substantial proprietor amongst his clan, controlling 620 profitable acres in Drum parish. The Naughten family collectively held 1,943 profitable acres and controlled the vast majority of the 4,145 unprofitable acres, which consisted mainly of bogland. John Mc Robert alone managed 1,400 acres of bog, including substantial holdings at Carrig O Naughten (now Carrickynaghtan) and Inchfaddagh, likely encompassing the extensive bog stretching across Cornafulla, Creggan, Callowbeg, Curraghnaboll and Cregganabeaks townlands.

The family’s fortunes shifted considerably during the tumultuous mid-17th century. By the 1660s, following the Cromwellian conquest and subsequent land redistributions, the Naughten holdings had shrunk dramatically to just 927 acres of profitable land. Donnagh Naughten emerged as the largest single landholder among them with nearly 600 acres. The castle itself appeared on the 1837 Ordnance Survey map, marked in gothic lettering as a small rectangular building. Despite archaeological testing conducted in 2003, no material evidence relating to the castle has been recovered, leaving only documentary records and local memory to attest to this once-important stronghold of the Naughten family.