The Knights Templar built the first fortification here around 1210, on land connected to Strongbow, the Anglo-Norman lord whose invasion helped open Ireland to English rule. Sir Walter Raleigh later held the estate after the Crown confiscated it from the rebellious Earl of Desmond in the 1580s, and Richard Boyle, the first Earl of Cork, eventually built the Manor House that still anchors the property in the 17th century.
The castle itself never fully recovered from the centuries of changing hands and conflict, and its ruins now sit beside the restored Manor House rather than inside it. That Manor House forms the centerpiece of today’s resort, which opened to guests in 2008 after extensive restoration. The Templar Cross from the original castle still appears in the resort’s golf club crest, a direct link between the 800-year-old ruins and the estate’s modern branding.