We already tried to visit this castle on May 31st, 2001, during the foot-and-mouth disease. At that time nobody was allowed to enter the property due to the ban to prevent the spreading of the disease.
This time we found the sign that reads that this castle is a private property and no trespassing is allowed.
So for the second time we admired this building from outside the fence.
The castle was built at the beginning of the 13th century by Maurice Fitzgerald, and it stands on what once was the ground of a monastic settlement.
In the 16th century the lease of the castle was given to Thomas Alen.
In the 1669 the property of the castle went in the hands of Colonel Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyreconnell, but later he sold it to Sir William Fownes of Kilkenny. It remained in this family until 1838 when it was sold to the Kennedys of Johnstown-Kennedy.
It's a massive tower house, five storeys high, with an attached gateway on its right-hand side, and a spiral staircase inside a round tower.
Today the castle is a designated National Monument.
Sections of the bawn wall can be seen in the fields east of the castle
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