The fortress was built in the 1420s. For nearly 200 years, it served as a home, refuge, and stronghold for at least 13 MacSweeney chieftains—some of whom were participants in and witnesses to some of the most seismic events in Irish history.
For example, MacSweeney Chief Eoghan Og II sheltered survivors of the 1588 Spanish Armada at Doe. The castle's last chieftain, Maolmhuire an Bhata Bhui, marched with Red Hugh O'Donnell, Lord of Tyrconnell, at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601.