Though the visible ruins date from late medieval times, they likely stand on or near the location of a castle built by Turlough O’Conor in 1124, and later the ‘castle of Suicin’ constructed by the Anglo-Normans in 1245. The current structure is attributed to Tadhg O’Kelly, chief of Hy Many, who built it during the 14th century. The castle changed hands multiple times over the centuries; by 1572 it was held by the Earl of Clanricarde, but the crown seized control in 1579.

What remains today is a rectangular crenellated bawn wall in reasonable condition, measuring approximately 54.5 metres north to south and 50.6 metres east to west, with an average height of 4.5 metres. The fortification features a wall-walk and a three-storey circular turret at the southwest corner, complete with gun loops, small windows, and a first-floor fireplace flue. A 19th-century house and outbuildings were constructed within the bawn’s interior, obscuring any visible traces of the original castle. The remains of an arched gateway in the centre of the east wall likely mark the original entrance, though a keystone dated 1597 and inscribed with ‘Anthony Braklon’ that once sat above this gate now lies to the east of the house.

The bawn walls are heavily covered in ivy, with crenellations only visible on the western and northern sections, whilst modern doorways have been inserted at both ends of the north wall. Flanking the structure on its eastern and western sides are watercourses marked on Ordnance Survey maps as ‘Mill Race’. While these channels certainly supplied an 18th or 19th-century corn mill that once stood immediately to the southeast, they may have medieval origins, suggesting the site’s long history of strategic and economic importance to the area.