Today, visitors will find little more than a grass-covered mound marking the inner end of what was once the entrance causeway, but this unassuming site conceals a dramatic past. The castle was constructed in 1595 by order of Queen Elizabeth I, part of the English Crown’s efforts to maintain control over this strategic coastal position during a turbulent period of Irish rebellion.

Historical records paint a clearer picture of what once stood here. In 1914, archaeologist Thomas Johnson Westropp documented the remains of a peel tower or gatehouse that measured 30 feet in length and 17 feet wide, with impressively thick walls of 6 feet constructed from quality slab masonry. He also noted a surviving fragment of wall that terminated in window jambs stretching 6 feet long and rising 10 feet high; evidence of what must have been a substantial defensive structure designed to withstand siege and assault.

The castle’s existence proved remarkably short-lived, however. According to local historian Healy’s 1988 account, the fortress met its end soon after construction at the hands of the Earl of Desmond, who captured the site in a brutal assault. The English garrison met a grim fate; they were either killed by the sword or thrown from the clifftops into the sea below. The Earl then destroyed the fortification, ensuring it could never again serve as an English stronghold. Today, the peaceful, windswept promontory gives little hint of this violent episode, though the location’s commanding views of the coastline clearly demonstrate why both sides considered it worth fighting for.