The castle was originally the inheritance of John, the youngest son of Gerald Óg, who was himself the youngest son of the eighth Earl of Desmond. The Geraldine ownership came to a violent end during the Desmond Rebellion of 1579, when James Fitzjohn, the last of the family line to hold the castle, was executed for his part in the uprising. Following this tumultuous period, the castle was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh in 1586, though by 1640 it had passed to John Gillard. Just five years later, Lord Castlehaven besieged the fortress, after which ownership transferred to the Earl of Cork.

The castle complex consists of two main structures: a tower house positioned on the upper rock outcrop and a hall built on a lower ledge at the water's edge. Today, only fragments of the tower house survive, including one angle and the northwest wall standing about five metres high, with traces of barrel vaulting still visible. The tower house sits at an angle within a D-shaped bawn measuring roughly 40 metres northwest to southeast and 35 metres northeast to southwest. This defensive enclosure is defined by a rock-cut fosse four metres wide and one metre deep on the northwest side, a cliff to the west, and the river forming the eastern boundary.

The hall structure is more substantially preserved, comprising two floors with internal dimensions of 11.7 metres east to west and 7.2 metres north to south. Built directly against the rock face on its western side, it features a chamber cut into the rock at ground level. Beneath the eastern end lies a basement chamber with four windows, which would have originally been roofed in timber and accessed via trapdoor. The ground floor contains five window embrasures, whilst a large pointed opening was later inserted into the north wall, unfortunately destroying the mural stairs that once led to the first floor. The upper level, which was supported on corbels projecting from the north and south walls, had seven windows. Though a projecting tower once stood at the northwest angle, built on its own rock outcrop, it has since been destroyed, and notably, no evidence remains of either fireplaces or garderobes throughout the structure.