Local tradition speaks of a castle that once stood here, though no stones remain to tell its tale. The Ordnance Survey’s 6-inch maps from the 19th century dutifully marked this spot as a castle site, yet when the surveyors came to write their detailed Letters, they made no mention of it whatsoever. This peculiar omission has left historians scratching their heads for over a century.

The antiquarian Thomas Johnson Westropp, who documented Ireland’s ancient monuments with remarkable thoroughness, visited the area in the early 1900s. Writing in 1911, he noted that even by 1839, only oral tradition preserved any memory of the structure. No foundations, no rubble, no earthworks; nothing remained to suggest what might have stood here. Without physical evidence or supporting documents, archaeologists can only speculate about whether a fortification truly existed at this location, and if so, what form it might have taken.

Adding to the intrigue, local lore places “Guairim’s House” just to the north of this phantom castle site. The proximity of these two traditionally remembered structures suggests this corner of Inishbofin may have been more significant in centuries past than its current empty fields would suggest. Until archaeological excavation or new documentary evidence emerges, the true nature of these sites remains tantalisingly uncertain, preserved only in place names and the fading memories of island tradition.