This former tower house first appears on historical records in the 1655 Down Survey map of Moycashel Barony, where it’s clearly marked as a castle standing on lands owned by Rose Geoghegan of Ballard and Corenagh, who was recorded as an ‘Irish Papist’ during that turbulent period of Irish history. The castle continued to appear on Ordnance Survey maps well into the 20th century; marked simply as ‘Castle’ on the first edition six-inch map, and rather poignantly annotated as ‘Castle (in Ruins)’ on the revised 1913 edition.

Today, what remains of this once imposing structure tells a story of centuries of decline. The rectangular building, roughly 10 metres from east to west, survives only as low wall footings on three sides, with the exception of a small section of the eastern wall near the northeast corner that still stands about 3.5 metres high. Built from rubble limestone laid in rough courses, the ruins lack any dressed or cut stone features that might hint at its former grandeur. Much of the structure is now obscured by accumulated rubble, earth and fallen tree trunks, whilst thorn trees have taken root throughout the site, creating a wild, overgrown appearance that’s clearly visible even from aerial photography.

Archaeological surveys from the late 1970s paint a picture of a monument in poor preservation, with a mound of earth and stone visible in the interior and no surrounding earthworks remaining. Intriguingly, field reports from 1977 mention that burials were discovered to the east or southeast of the castle, adding another layer to the site’s long history. Though much diminished from its tower house origins, these atmospheric ruins continue to mark the landscape where the Geoghegan family once held sway during the complex religious and political upheavals of 17th century Ireland.