Where the castle once stood, a modern bungalow has been built, leaving no visible trace of the medieval structure above ground. The site’s strategic position on the hillside would have offered commanding views across the surrounding countryside, making it an ideal defensive location during turbulent times.

The castle at Leighmoney played a role in some of Ireland’s most significant historical conflicts. According to Samuel Lewis’s 1837 topographical dictionary, Spanish forces occupied this substantial fortress in 1601, likely during the Nine Years’ War when Spanish troops landed at Kinsale to support the Irish chiefs against English rule. Four decades later, during the Confederate Wars of the 1640s, royalist forces held the castle in 1641, using it as a stronghold during the widespread uprising that swept across Ireland.

Though the physical structure has vanished, replaced by modern housing and farmland, the site remains an important piece of Cork’s archaeological record. The transformation from military fortress to agricultural land and residential property reflects centuries of change in the Irish landscape, where medieval strongholds have given way to peaceful rural life. The Archaeological Inventory of County Cork records this site as part of the region’s rich medieval heritage, even if visitors today must use their imagination to picture the fortress that once commanded this hillside.