This medieval stronghold once belonged to the Bishops of Cloyne, who controlled the manor of Kilmaclenine during the Middle Ages. The castle’s strategic position is enhanced by its natural defences; sheer cliff faces protect much of the site, whilst the builders reinforced the more vulnerable approaches with substantial limestone rubble walls that still stand between one and one and a half metres high.

The fortification encloses a roughly rectangular area measuring about 40 metres east to west and 30 metres north to south. The defensive walls cleverly follow the natural cliff edges on the northern, eastern and southern sides, though time has taken its toll with sections now missing at the southwest corner and along the eastern side. Several intriguing architectural features remain visible, including what appears to be a garderobe chute projecting from the north wall, and two small rectangular openings with stone lintels at the eastern ends of both the north and south walls; these narrow apertures, each about half a metre high and 20 centimetres wide, are now blocked and inaccessible from within. A three metre wide ramp on the western end of the south wall, flanked by precipitous drops on both sides, likely served as the main entrance to the castle, though it’s now covered in grass.

The castle sits at the heart of a fascinating medieval landscape. Just 100 metres to the south southeast lie the remains of a deserted rural borough, whilst a church and burial ground can be found about 250 metres to the southeast. Even closer, roughly 90 metres to the north northeast, stands a later fortified house. Inside the castle walls, the ground is uneven with exposed rock outcroppings, and whilst no structures are visible on the surface today, the site continues to offer insights into the defensive architecture and settlement patterns of medieval Cork.