Though no visible stonework survives today, this unassuming earthwork once supported a small fortification built by the MacCarthys, specifically the branch of the family known as Sliocht Cormac Dunguile. The Ordnance Survey Letters described it rather dismissively as a “small butt of a building,” suggesting that even by the 19th century, the castle had already fallen into considerable disrepair.

The castle is sometimes referred to as Srugreana castle, taking its name from the surrounding townland. Like many Irish castles of its type, it likely served as a defensive residence for the local MacCarthy lords, who controlled much of this region during the medieval period. These tower houses were typical of Gaelic Irish nobility from the 15th to 17th centuries; compact, fortified dwellings that could withstand raids whilst serving as symbols of authority over the surrounding landscape.

The MacCarthys’ tenure at Srugreana came to an abrupt end during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in the 1650s, when they forfeited the property along with many other Catholic landowners across the country. However, in a turn of fortune that was relatively uncommon for dispossessed Irish families of the period, the MacCarthys managed to recover Srugreana on lease in 1697, though by then their castle appears to have been abandoned or destroyed. Today, visitors to the site need a keen eye and good imagination to picture the modest stronghold that once stood here, watching over the Kerry countryside.