The Ordnance Survey Letters of 1839 describe it as ‘a bit of an old Castle’, believed to have given the parish its name. Though only traces remain today, this castle has a rich and turbulent history that spans centuries of Irish conflict and changing fortunes.

The castle served as the seat of a branch of the Comerford family for generations. Records from an inquisition held at Gowran in 1638 reveal that Gerald Comerford died in 1604 whilst holding the manor, lands, and tenements of Inchihologhan from the Crown by knight’s service. The estate passed to his son Fulco, who died in 1623, and then to his grandson, also named Gerald. This long family tenure came to an abrupt end during the Confederate Wars when, following Kilkenny’s surrender in 1650, Oliver Cromwell transferred the castle and its lands to Joseph Cuffe, whose descendants would become the Earls of Desart.

The Comerfords briefly reclaimed their ancestral home after Charles II’s restoration in 1660, but their victory proved short-lived. Just eighteen years later, Joseph Cuffe was permanently confirmed in possession of the castle, manor, and lands, with the entire estate renamed ‘Castle-Inch’. Cuffe himself died in 1679 and was laid to rest in the nearby church, about 80 metres east-northeast of the castle site. By 1906, local historian Commins noted that no part of the castle structure remained standing, leaving only historical records and local memory to tell its story.