Rahinnane Castle

The ringfort on the site was built in the 7th or 8th century AD. The Irish name was originally Rath Fhionnáin — Finan's ringfort.

Local tradition once claimed that this piece of land was the last in Ireland held by the Vikings, as it was so easily defended.^[5]

The stone tower house was built in the 15th or 16th century by the FitzGeralds, hereditary Knights of Kerry.^[6]

In 1602, towards the end of the Nine Years' War, the castle was taken by Sir Charles Wilmot. It was ruined during the Cromwellian conquest (1649–53).^[7][8]

The ancient earthwork featured a 9 metres (30 ft) deep ditch, an entrance in the southwest and a souterrain in the southeast. The castle was rectangular and three storeys tall. Most of the outer walls remain; on the inside there is some mural stairway, traces of vaulting and a blind arcade. Two corner turrets are also visible. More than half the outer walls of the three-storey castle remain.^[9]