First recorded on the 1842 Ordnance Survey map as an L-shaped structure labelled ‘Castle in ruins’, this site measured approximately 12 metres east to west and 10 metres north to south. By 1897, when the OS 25-inch plan was drawn up, nothing remained visible above ground, and the mapmakers could only mark it as ‘Castle (site of)’.

Today, visitors to the location will find a small network of stone walls spanning roughly 51 metres east to west and 30 metres north to south, which may have formed part of the original castle complex. Two small rectangular structures can still be traced within this network: one to the south with interior dimensions of 3.5 by 3.3 metres, defined by low stone walls about 30 centimetres high; and another to the north measuring 7 by 4.3 metres, surrounded by more substantial double-faced stone walls that rise to just over a metre in height. About 20 metres to the east, in the adjacent field, an L-shaped feature marked by a stone bank hints at further medieval remains.

Historical records tell us frustratingly little about this castle, though it may have served as a residence for the O’Brien family, one of Clare’s most powerful Gaelic dynasties. Local historians Ua Cróinín and Breen discovered several hammer-dressed stones, likely architectural fragments from the castle, built into the outbuildings of nearby farms; a common fate for the worked stone of abandoned medieval structures. A later trackway now cuts through the site from north to south, adding another layer to this palimpsest of Irish history where centuries of use and reuse have left their mark on the landscape.