Located in a valley at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains, with the later Shanrahan Church visible just 50 metres to the north, this ruined fortification offers a glimpse into the turbulent past of the region. The Civil Survey of 1654;56 provides a valuable snapshot of the castle’s condition in the mid-17th century, noting that Sir Richard Everard, described as an ‘Irish Papist’, held the property of ‘Shanrehyn’ in 1640. By the time of the survey, the lands were already abandoned, with only ‘a wast house singled with a chemney, and the walls of an old ruinous Castle’ remaining.

Today, what survives of the castle reveals interesting architectural details despite its deteriorated state. Built from sandstone rubble with some limestone, the walls are roughly coursed and feature an external base-batter measuring 1.4 metres high and 0.42 metres wide. The most substantial remaining portion is a section of the eastern wall, stretching 2.4 metres in length and 1.4 metres thick. The southeast corner incorporates a distinctive semi-circular turret on the exterior, which becomes squared on the interior; a design feature also found at Ballyboy Castle elsewhere in the county. This corner turret measures 3.5 metres long and 1.5 metres wide, though ivy now completely obscures its interior.

The castle’s northeast corner once featured a similar semi-circular turret, but this has since collapsed and now lies on its side amongst the ruins. Based on the surviving fragments, archaeologists estimate the eastern side of the castle originally extended for approximately 14 metres. The eastern wall shows significant structural damage, with prominent cracks near the corner turret indicating the ongoing deterioration of this historic structure. While time and neglect have taken their toll on Shanrahan Castle, these weathered stones continue to mark the landscape where the Everard family once held sway, offering visitors a tangible connection to Ireland’s complex medieval and early modern heritage.