The castle’s history stretches back to at least 1186, when the lands of Fedamore were granted to Magio Abbey, establishing it as an important manor by 1237. Throughout the medieval period, this estate passed through the hands of various Anglo-Norman families; William de Camville held it in 1317, followed by a succession of owners including the de Vernons, de Berminghams, and de Staffords, each leaving their mark on the historical record through legal disputes and inheritance claims.

The castle’s fortunes shifted dramatically during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. By 1583, the old castle was in the possession of J. mac Dairegeloch, before being swept up in the confiscations following the Desmond Rebellions. The Crown subsequently granted Fedamore to Edmund Manering in 1588, and later to Donat, Earl of Thomond, as part of the former Desmond estates. The Thomond family’s control would prove lasting; by the 1650s, Barnaby, Earl of Thomond, held not just the castle site but the entire manor of Fedamore, complete with its own court leet and court baron, along with various feudal privileges and royalties that underscored its continuing importance as an administrative centre.

Today, visitors to Castlequarter will find no romantic ruins or crumbling towers to mark where Fedamore Castle once stood. The site, documented by antiquarians like Westropp in the early 20th century and recorded in the Civil Survey of 1654-56, serves as a reminder of how completely time and circumstances can erase even substantial medieval structures from the Irish landscape, leaving only archival traces of what was once a significant seat of power in County Limerick.