The last prior, John Rawson was created Viscount Clontarf in 1541 in return for surrendering the castle and its lands to the crown.

In 1600 Queen Elizabeth I granted the estate to Sir Geoffrey Fenton, her secretary of state for Ireland, and it passed by marriage from his descendants to the King family.

He lived at the castle for only six months, after which time it was let to John George Oulton and his wife Mona, the only daughter of Walter Blades Calverley by Vernon's sister Edyth.

Most of the former estate lands are long since sold for housing, but there remains a modest curtilage, with an ornamental gatehouse; most of this is laid out for car parking.

The lady of the house at that time, Dorothy Vernon, was from Hanover and "particularly intimate" with the composer,[3] who wrote a piece called Forest Music for her, said to combine German and Irish melodies.

[6] Some childhood memories of the castle in the early years of the 20th century appear in Enemies of Promise by the writer Cyril Connolly, whose mother was one of the Vernon family.

[7] Before reopening as a hotel in 1997 the castle was for many years a popular cabaret venue; comedians Tom O'Connor and Maureen Potter and accordionist Dermot O'Brien have each released live recordings made there.