First recorded on the 1839 Ordnance Survey map as ‘Castle (in ruins)’, only fragmentary walls remain of what was once a substantial structure. The OS Letters from the same year describe finding merely ‘a small portion of the walls of a castle on Kilree Townland’, suggesting the building was already in an advanced state of decay by the early Victorian period.

The exact nature of the structure has puzzled historians for generations. When antiquarian Hogan visited in 1860, he found the remains so deteriorated that he couldn’t determine whether the ‘rude stone edifice’ had originally served as a church or castle, noting that only the east wall stood about three feet high whilst the rest had collapsed into rubble barely rising above ground level. Local tradition, however, firmly associates the site with religious ownership; Carrigan recorded in 1905 that the castle was ‘still traditionally remembered to have belonged to the “Friars”‘ and likely marked the position of the monastic Grange of Kilree.

The castle’s proximity to what was once Mr Whitecroft’s house, just a few perches away, places it firmly within the historical landscape of ecclesiastical holdings in the area. Though little remains visible today, the site continues to intrigue those interested in Ireland’s medieval past, particularly the complex relationship between religious houses and their defensive structures during turbulent times.