This castle, once part of a 360-acre estate owned by John Drake in 1640, appears on historical maps dating back to the Down Survey of 1656-8, when cartographers meticulously documented Ireland’s landscape following the Cromwellian conquest. The Civil Survey records from 1654-6 describe it simply as ‘an old castle’, suggesting it was already showing its age even then.

By the time Ordnance Survey mapmakers arrived in 1836, the castle had been reduced to a single structure within a working farm complex, a far cry from whatever defensive grandeur it might once have possessed. The 1908 edition of the OS map tells an even more modest tale; by then, only a fragment of wall remained standing. Located on a slight rise in the otherwise level landscape of Staholmog parish in the barony of Kells, the castle’s position would have offered its inhabitants a modest vantage point over the surrounding countryside.

Today, these remnants lie hidden in pasture land, invisible to casual observers but still marked on archaeological surveys. The site serves as a reminder of the many small castles and fortified houses that once dotted the Irish countryside, most of which have now vanished entirely or survive only as enigmatic bumps and stones in farmers’ fields. Drakerath Castle may lack the dramatic ruins of more famous Irish castles, but its documented history from the Drake family’s ownership through its gradual dissolution offers a valuable glimpse into the changing fortunes of Ireland’s landed estates.