The castle’s history stretches back possibly to the 13th century, with the surviving rectangular structure measuring approximately 13 metres north to south and 10 metres east to west. The north and west walls still rise to first floor level, featuring a blocked lintelled window at ground level in the west wall and the remains of a large central window opening on the north wall’s upper storey.

The castle evolved over centuries, with a compact corner tower, roughly 3 metres square, added to the northwest corner during the 15th or 16th century. This later addition showcases defensive innovations of its era, including a wicker-centred vault over the ground floor and gun loops at first floor level; originally there were likely more of these defensive features. Local tradition credits the Mac Carthys with founding the castle before it passed into the hands of the Barretts, reflecting the changing political landscape of medieval Cork.

The castle’s more recent history tells a sobering tale of both adaptation and loss. The ruins were incorporated into a landscaped garden, complete with a modern staircase built at the southern end of the west wall to provide access to the tower’s top. However, in 1989, the dramatic cliff-face setting that once provided natural defence became the castle’s undoing when part of the cliff collapsed onto the roadway below, prompting Cork County Council to demolish the northern half of the structure. Today, what remains stands adjacent to a renovated early 17th-century fortified house, creating a unique architectural timeline that spans several centuries of Irish defensive building.