Today, you’d be hard pressed to find any trace of it above ground; the site now appears as nothing more than ordinary pasture, locally known as ‘castle field’. Yet this unremarkable patch of grass conceals centuries of Irish history, from medieval strongholds to plantation politics.

The castle’s physical remnants survived well into the 20th century. A photograph from 1909 captured several stumps of masonry standing on a raised platform, silent witnesses to the structure’s former grandeur. These last visible fragments met their end around 1955, when land reclamation efforts saw them levelled completely. The castle itself had already undergone significant changes long before its final demolition; after being granted to Hugh Cuffe in 1597 as part of the Munster Plantation, it was acquired by Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, one of the most influential figures in early modern Ireland.

Boyle appears to have replaced the medieval castle with a mansion, which appears on the Down Survey barony maps from 1655–6. This transformation from defensive fortress to comfortable residence reflects the broader changes sweeping through Ireland during this period, as the old Gaelic order gave way to new colonial settlements. The site’s evolution from Desmond stronghold to Boyle mansion, and finally to empty field, tells the story of Ireland’s turbulent transition from medieval lordships to modern agriculture.