The name itself tells a story of medieval land exchanges; originally called Furlong of Pole when first recorded in 1310-11, the area took on its current name after the Hore family acquired the land through an exchange for property at Horetown. The river that ran through their new domain became known as Polehore, combining the original place name with their family name.

The Hore family’s connection to this spot spans centuries of Irish history. David Hore of Pole appears in records from 1347-8, whilst Thomas Hore de Pole is documented in the mid-16th century. By 1640, Christopher Hore had established himself as a substantial landowner here, possessing not just the castle but also a weir and 420 acres across Ardcandrisk parish, according to the Civil Survey of 1654-6. The turbulent years of Cromwell’s rule saw Christopher marked for transplantation to Connaught in 1653, allocated a mere 140 acres in exchange for his Wexford holdings, though fortune smiled on him when the Restoration of 1660 saw his property returned.

The castle remained in Hore hands until 1883, when P. H. Hore, the family historian, finally sold the estate. By then, the castle itself was already a ruin, reportedly burnt during the 1798 rebellion. Today, visitors to the site find little evidence of the rectangular structure that once stood here; the 1839 Ordnance Survey map shows it measured roughly 6 metres square. The Dublin to Wexford railway now runs immediately east of where the castle stood, and whilst a grass-covered plateau between the railway and riverbank might mark the spot, the small wood that now occupies the mapped location reveals no trace of the medieval stronghold that once commanded this stretch of the Slaney.