While a castle has existed at this strategic location since 1215, when Maurice FitzGerald first built a fortification here, the current tower house dates from a later period. The original Norman castle had a turbulent early history; it was demolished and burned by the MacCarthys following the Geraldine defeat at the Battle of Callan in 1261, then rebuilt, only to be abandoned and burned again in 1280 when its guards fled in fear of local Irish lords. The existing structure is a tower house built by the O’Sullivan Mores, who held the castle until it was forfeited in 1656.

The rectangular tower house measures approximately 11 metres north to south and 8 metres east to west, with walls averaging 1.8 metres thick at the base. Originally four storeys high, it retains several medieval features including a machicolation, a bartizan supported on pointed limestone corbels at the southwest corner, and traces of the original entrance on the ground floor’s north wall. Inside, visitors can spot the remains of cut limestone fireplaces, one on the first floor featuring a decorative spiral pattern on its surviving jamb. A mural stairway once connected the floors, though it’s now interrupted by later insertions. The castle underwent significant alterations in the 1820s when it was owned by the O’Mahony family; they rebuilt the east wall, added ogee-headed windows in brickwork, and inserted a pointed doorway at first floor level, covering much of the original stonework with plaster and render.

After passing through various hands, including Sir William Petty who acquired it following its forfeiture, and surviving an attack by the Earl of Ormond in 1570, the castle eventually fell into ruin again. Today, the ivy-covered structure preserves a fascinating blend of medieval military architecture and nineteenth-century romantic restoration. Architectural fragments scattered around the site, including chamfered window sills and jambs with bar sinkings, hint at the castle’s former grandeur, while about 30 metres southwest, a short stretch of what may have been the original bawn wall can still be found amongst dense overgrowth.