The site's history stretches back to at least 1201, when the weir of Coradoguir first appears in historical records. By 1577, the mills at Cordower had been granted to Hercules Rainsford, marking the beginning of documented English control over this strategic riverside location.

The castle itself appears more prominently in 17th-century records, painting a picture of a fortified residence that controlled both the crossing point and the valuable mills nearby. In 1627, W. Creagh, son of Martin, held the castle along with two mills at what was then called Carrowdarrower. Just thirty years later, in 1657, a Civil Survey describes the site as comprising both a stone house and castle at Curragowr, suggesting a complex of buildings rather than a single tower house.

Today, the castle forms part of Limerick's Englishtown area, a testament to the centuries of Anglo-Norman and English influence that shaped the medieval city. Its position near the weir wasn't merely picturesque; it represented control over a crucial crossing point of the Shannon, the mills that harnessed the river's power, and the trade that flowed along Ireland's longest waterway. The various spellings of its name in historical documents, from Coradoguir to Cordower to Curragowr, reflect the linguistic changes that swept through Limerick as Gaelic, Norman French, and English speakers each left their mark on the city's topography.