The site appears in the 17th-century Stafford Inquisition of County Mayo, which documented the castle and bawn as notable structures of their time. Built by the Burke family, this defensive complex would have commanded views across the river valley and surrounding countryside, serving both as a residence and a strategic stronghold in what was often turbulent territory.

The castle remained standing well into the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when the statistician McParlan documented it in 1802 as a substantial square tower measuring approximately 9 metres across and rising to an impressive height of about 14 metres. The tower was protected by a formidable bawn wall standing 2.75 metres high, creating a fortified compound typical of Irish tower houses from this period. These structures were designed to withstand raids and sieges whilst providing comfortable accommodation for the local gentry and their households.

By the time the antiquarian John O’Donovan visited in 1838, however, the castle had been demolished, with only a fragment of wall remaining; likely part of the original bawn. The Ordnance Survey map from that same year marks the location simply as ‘Site of Carrickanass Castle’, acknowledging that this once-prominent landmark had already vanished from the Mayo landscape. Today, no visible traces remain above ground, though the site continues to hold its place in the historical record, a reminder of the Burke family’s former influence and the defensive architecture that once dotted rural Ireland.