The structure has been almost entirely erased by quarrying activities, leaving behind only the faintest traces of its former existence. When the Ordnance Survey mapped the area in 1846, they could only mark it as the ‘site of Shanagarry Castle’, and even by the 1840s, local surveyors were describing it as the ‘ruin of an old castle almost erased’.

The castle’s decline was already well advanced by the early 19th century. Samuel Lewis, writing in 1837, noted that only the foundation remained visible, whilst a survey conducted in 1841 found the foundations barely traceable with just a single wall still standing, showing evidence of grouting. These scant remains paint a picture of a once substantial fortification that has gradually succumbed to time and human intervention.

Today, visitors to the site will need a keen eye and perhaps a bit of imagination to detect any evidence of the castle that once stood here. The combination of natural decay and deliberate quarrying has left this medieval stronghold as little more than a footnote in the landscape; a reminder of how quickly even stone fortifications can disappear when nature and industry work in tandem. The Archaeological Inventory of County Kerry, published in 2009, continues to document what little remains of this vanished fortress, ensuring its memory persists even as its physical presence has all but disappeared.