This rectangular defensive enclosure follows an irregular path, with its southern, eastern and western walls measuring between 20 and 23 metres in length, whilst the northern wall extends roughly 31 metres with several angular turns. The wall height varies considerably due to the natural slope of the ground; standing about 5.5 metres tall on the southern side where the ground drops away, and 3.5 metres on the northern side. The southern sections bristle with gun loops positioned close to ground level, featuring splayed and lintelled embrasures with vertical slits, some with triangular widenings at the base or horizontal widenings near the top, indicating the castle’s adaptation to gunpowder warfare.

Tucked into the southeast corner stands a three-storey rectangular tower, its eastern and southern walls forming part of the bawn’s defensive perimeter. Each floor contains a modest chamber measuring roughly 3.2 by 2.4 metres, with the upper floors accessed via a combination of clockwise turning and straight mural stairs. The second floor retains its bluntly-pointed wicker-centred vault, though part of the eastern side has collapsed. Along the southern wall, an unusual garderobe feature projects from the wall face at the upper levels, whilst another garderobe recess can be found midway along the western wall. The northern wall once housed what was likely the castle’s great hall, evidenced by three large windows; two featuring single ogee-headed lights and one with a double ogee-headed light with transom, though all are now much damaged.

This was the principal stronghold of the Barrett clan, who acquired the site in 1468 and likely constructed most of the present structure shortly thereafter. The castle presents an unusual reversal of the typical Irish tower house arrangement, where the bawn rather than the tower dominates the complex. Additional defensive towers once stood at the northeast corner and along the eastern wall, though only fragmentary remains survive. Whilst the main entrance has been lost, a narrow lintelled doorway through the eastern wall may have served as a sally port, allowing defenders to make surprise attacks on besiegers.