¹³S.M. "Ballycarbery Castle." Kerry Archaeological Magazine 3.16 (1916): 243-59.
The documented dates of the fall of other castles in the area led the author to date the fall of Ballycarbery to a date before June of 1652. The author adds, "Tradition states that the forces of the Lord Protector battered it with guns from the tide way which flows up to a short distance below it. We are informed that some antiquarians who visited the castle expressed an opinion that the besiegers, after capturing it, must have blown it up from the inside, as was done in the case of Dunboy Castle in 1602. The present writer remembers having, in the days of his youth, seen large blocks of ruined masonry lying about on the southern and eastern sides of the castle, and this would seem to bear out the above opinion."
In a 1597 letter to Queen Elizabeth, she was warned that "...her Majesty ought to have great regard on whom she hestoweth the Castle of Ballycarbrye and the haven of Bealynche [Valencia], which is a very large and fair haven, and in a remote place, dangerous to be in any man's hands that shall favor any common enemy."