The current entrance gateway to Castle Forbes house incorporates the barrel-vaulted remains of an earlier castle, whilst approximately 10 metres north of this gateway stands a wall that likely formed part of the original bawn; a defensive wall that would have enclosed the castle courtyard.

The site witnessed dramatic events during the 1641 rebellion, when Irish rebels launched an attack on the castle and its bawn. Contemporary accounts from the 1641 depositions paint a vivid picture of the siege: rebels shot in all the windows whilst defenders fired back from the castle walls, resulting in casualties on both sides. The depositions record that “those of the Castle discharged out of the Castle against the Rebells and killd many of them”, whilst several defenders were killed either inside the house or upon the walls themselves.

Perhaps most remarkably, the siege created such desperate conditions that those trapped inside faced a severe water shortage. In an extraordinary feat of determination, the defenders dug a well approximately 12 metres deep (recorded as 40 feet in the original document) within the bawn itself. This improvised water source, which “refreshed them much” according to the depositions, proved crucial to their survival during the siege. The location of this emergency well has been recorded as a separate archaeological feature, serving as a tangible reminder of the desperate measures taken during one of Ireland’s most turbulent periods.