What remains today is the southwest section of a tower house that once measured roughly 10.7 metres northwest to southeast and 8.6 metres northeast to southwest. The southwest wall still reaches up to what would have been the second floor, whilst the northwest wall only survives to ground level, with just a 60cm stub of the southeast wall still visible at its base.

The surviving walls reveal fascinating architectural details that hint at the castle’s former layout. Three horizontal rows of joist holes, spaced about a metre apart vertically, mark where wooden floor beams once supported the upper levels. At first floor height, you can spot a stone-lined guardrobe chute; essentially a medieval toilet that would have emptied outside the walls. The northwest wall preserves traces of a lintelled window opening and one side of what was once a doorway, though the protective base batter that originally reinforced the external walls has long since been removed.

This was once a stronghold of the O’Sullivan Beare clan, one of the powerful Gaelic families who controlled this part of Cork for centuries. The castle survived through wars and rebellions, adapting to changing times until nature finally dealt the fatal blow. During fierce gales in 1920, much of the structure collapsed, leaving only these evocative fragments clinging to the rock. Today, visitors who make the journey to this corner of Whiddy Island can explore what remains of this once-formidable fortress, imagining the lives of those who called it home over the centuries.