The castle sits near the source of the Brickey River, which curves protectively around the hill from north to south, creating a natural defensive position that the Fitzgeralds recognised when they built their stronghold here.

The castle’s documented history likely begins around 1440, when Catherine, sister of the seventh Earl of Desmond, married John FitzThomas of Knockmaon, cementing the Fitzgerald claim to these lands. Following the Desmond Rebellion, the castle and its estates were confiscated from Thomas Fitzgerald and granted to Sir Christopher Hatten. It was during this period, in the late 1590s, that the castle witnessed one of its most dramatic episodes when Mrs Alyson Dalton, Hatten’s tenant, successfully defended it for two years against the Fitzgeralds of Dromana who sought to reclaim their ancestral seat. The lands subsequently passed to Sir Richard Osborne before 1640, though the castle’s military significance continued into the Confederate Wars when it fell to Lord Castlehaven and his forces in 1645.

Today, only fragments of the north and west walls remain standing, reaching about three metres in height, with visible evidence of vaulting in the northern wall. West of the tower house, a grass covered rectangular enclosure defined by low earthen banks may represent the original bawn, the fortified courtyard typical of Irish tower houses. The site has yielded more than military history; in 1912, a hoard of Hiberno-Norse coins was discovered here, suggesting the location’s importance extended back centuries before the castle’s construction. About 100 metres to the south stands a church that likely served as the castle chapel, completing the picture of a once thriving medieval settlement.