Today, visitors to the site will find only the ghost of a settlement; a recently demolished farmyard where a house and outbuildings once stood. The surviving walls offer no architectural features dating earlier than the 18th or 19th century, suggesting that whatever medieval structures existed here have long since vanished or been absorbed into later buildings.

The castle’s history stretches back to the Tudor period, with historical sources placing its construction in 1521. This would have been during a turbulent time in Irish history, when powerful Norman families like the Fitzgeralds controlled vast swathes of land whilst navigating the complex politics between Gaelic lords and the English crown. The Imokilly Fitzgeralds, who held this castle, were a significant branch of one of Ireland’s most influential families, their territory encompassing much of east Cork.

Whilst the castle itself has disappeared, tantalising hints of its former presence occasionally surface. In 1988, architectural fragments were discovered at the site; carved arch stones from what appeared to be a tower house doorway, though these were unfortunately removed before they could be properly documented. Such tower houses were the defensive residences of choice for the Irish nobility from the 15th to 17th centuries, typically featuring thick walls, narrow windows, and multiple storeys accessed by spiral staircases. These chance discoveries remind us that beneath the ordinary agricultural landscape lies centuries of hidden history.