 In 1215, an Anglo-Norman settler, FitzStephens, built a tower house with a bawn there, which itself replaced a much older fortification, probably a ringfort.In 1305, the castle was attacked and burned down by one of the most powerful Gaelic septs in the region, the MacCarthys.Another Gaelic sept, the O'Driscolls, much smaller but still powerful in the region, subsequently took possession of Dunasead and rebuilt it.