It was there that Philip O'Reilly was imprisoned in the 1360s with "no allowance save a sheaf of oats for day and night and a cup of water, so that he was compelled to drink his own urine.

[5] In 1641, Philip O'Reilly, MP for Cavan and a prominent leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, seized control of the castle, which he held until 1653.

Another was William Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore in the Church of Ireland, who died in February 1642, evidently due to inadequate shelter from the cold winter.

In March 1653, it was besieged by Commonwealth forces under Sir Theophilus Jones, brother of Henry and thus related by marriage to the Culme family.

[9] Jones set up his artillery in the nearby townland of Innishconnell and the damage caused by cannon shot remains to this day.