In one corner of this bawn stood a stone tower, a remnant of an earlier castle constructed by the De Cantillons, one of the medieval Norman families who had settled in the area. This tower served as a tangible link to the site’s deeper history, connecting the later Crosbie estate to Kerry’s Norman past.

Around 1758, the family replaced their thatched dwelling with a more substantial house, reflecting the growing prosperity and social ambitions of the Anglo-Irish gentry during the Georgian period. This wasn’t to be the final incarnation of the house, however. In approximately 1809, the Crosbies commissioned the renowned father and son architectural team of Richard and William Vitruvius Morrison to transform their home into a castellated mansion. The Morrisons were celebrated for their Gothic Revival designs across Ireland, and their work at Ballyheigue would have created an imposing romantic structure that deliberately evoked medieval grandeur.

Like many of Ireland’s great houses, Ballyheigue Castle met a violent end during the turbulent years of the War of Independence, when it was burnt in 1921. For decades, the ruins stood as a reminder of this troubled period, but recent years have seen a partial resurrection of the estate. One wing has been carefully restored and now serves as the focal point of a golf course that occupies the former grounds, offering visitors a chance to experience a fragment of this layered history whilst enjoying the Kerry landscape.