Their influence peaked in the early 15th century when John Roche of Drinagh held the prestigious position of seneschal, or governor, of Wexford in 1408. The family’s name appears regularly in historical records thereafter, marking them as significant landowners and political players in the region’s complex medieval hierarchy.

By 1641, Robert Roche had amassed considerable holdings across the area, owning 129 acres at Drinagh, 69 acres at Jacketstown in Drinagh parish, and 124 acres at Latimerstown in neighbouring Rathaspick parish, according to the Civil Survey. The family’s castle at Drinagh, which appears on the Down Survey map of 1655–8, stood as a symbol of their enduring presence in the region. The 1839 Ordnance Survey map records a small structure, measuring approximately 10 by 5 metres, marking the castle’s location on level, low-lying ground just east of what is now Drinagh House, roughly 250 metres from the western shore of Wexford harbour’s South Slob.

Today, no visible traces of the castle remain above ground in what is now agricultural land planted with cereal crops. The site represents one of many lost Norman fortifications that once dotted the Wexford landscape, silent testimony to centuries of power struggles, land ownership, and the gradual transformation of Ireland’s medieval society. The Roches’ story at Drinagh exemplifies the rise and eventual decline of Anglo-Norman families who shaped the political and social landscape of medieval Ireland, leaving behind only documentary evidence and place names to mark their once-formidable presence.