First recorded in 1440 when it was seized by an O’Donnell heir before being returned to the O’Boyle clan, this strategic stronghold witnessed some of the most dramatic episodes of Irish resistance. In 1592, the legendary Red Hugh O’Donnell expelled English forces who had occupied the castle, and by 1601 it was recognised as the O’Boyles’ principal residence. The tide turned after 1610 when the lands were granted to Patrick Vans, marking the beginning of the Plantation period in this corner of Ulster.

The castle’s transformation reflects the broader changes sweeping through 17th century Ireland. In 1611, Paul Gore constructed what he described as ‘a fair stone house’ from the ruins of the old O’Boyle fortress, though he was soon forced to surrender it to George Murrey. By 1622, observers noted ‘ye ruinous castle of Ballyboyle’ alongside the walls of Gore’s house, which stood only seven feet high. The property eventually passed to John Murrey, who would become Earl of Annandale, but by the time of the Civil Survey in 1654;6, little remained beyond ‘ye old walls of ye Castle called Balliweill’.

Today, visitors to the site will find only fragments of this once formidable stronghold. The most substantial remains are the ivy covered ruins of a semicircular corner tower, likely part of a defensive bawn, which clings precariously to the cliff edge. The tower once featured four gun loops at ground level and a mortared, corbelled vault roof, though much of the outer section has collapsed since the 1940s. Traces of the bawn wall can still be followed eastward along the clifftop to a ruined gate lodge, whilst about 2.7 metres of the northwest wall survives, standing roughly a metre high; silent witnesses to the castle’s turbulent past.