What survives today are fragments of the castle’s eastern and northern walls, measuring over 10 metres by nearly 16 metres, which likely formed part of a tower house typical of the region. The eastern wall, standing five metres at its highest point and a metre thick, features a simple single-light window and a rectangular recess on its interior face; telltale signs of its defensive design.

The castle’s history stretches back at least to 1574, when records show it belonged to ‘Tege na Buly’ O’Flaherty, a member of the powerful O’Flaherty clan who dominated much of Connemara for centuries. The O’Flahertys were known as formidable sea lords who controlled the western coastline, and this castle would have served as one of their strategic strongholds, commanding views over the estuary and providing protection from both maritime and land-based threats. Close to the southeast lie the remnants of a small jetty, suggesting the site’s importance for trade and transport along the coast.

Today, visitors can still trace the outline of what was once a formidable fortress. Beyond the standing walls, the possible foundations of a bawn wall; a defensive courtyard wall common to Irish tower houses; can be spotted to the southwest. These ruins, though modest compared to grander castles elsewhere in Ireland, offer a tangible connection to the turbulent world of Gaelic lordship in the late medieval period, when control of coastal fortifications meant control of trade, fishing rights, and the movement of people along Ireland’s wild Atlantic edge.