Located in Noan on the north-facing slope of gently rising ground, this castle site offers sweeping views across the western, northern, and eastern countryside, whilst higher ground shields it to the south. Today, no trace of the castle remains visible at ground level; its stones have long since surrendered to time and nature.

The castle’s history comes to us through the Civil Survey of 1654-6, which provides a tantalising glimpse into its past. Henry Laffan, recorded as the proprietor in 1640, owned lands that included what surveyors described as ‘a little old Castle with part of the Walls of a stone house not finished’. This intriguing description suggests the site may have been undergoing renovation or expansion that was never completed, perhaps interrupted by the tumultuous events of the 1640s when Ireland was engulfed in Confederate Wars.

The area around Noan Castle bears witness to a much longer history of human settlement. Just 200 metres to the southeast stands a ringfort, one of Ireland’s most common archaeological monuments dating from the early medieval period. Nearby, a house of possible 17th-century origin adds another layer to the site’s historical narrative, suggesting that whilst the castle itself fell into ruin, the lands continued to be inhabited and developed through subsequent centuries.