This rectangular fortress, measuring 13.5 metres east to west and 10 metres north to south, rises to its full original height despite centuries of weathering and conflict. Built by the Hodnett family, likely during the 15th century, the castle was already described as ‘broken down’ by 1581, though it found new life when Sir Peter Courthorpe occupied it from 1636 to 1651. A worn plaque bearing what may be Courthorpe’s coat of arms still adorns the space above the ground floor entrance.

The tower’s defensive architecture reveals sophisticated medieval engineering, with a ground floor doorway near the southern end of the west wall protected by a large murder hole above. The interior layout consists of vaulted chambers on multiple levels, connected by an intricate system of spiral and straight staircases built into the thick walls. The ground floor features a pointed wicker-centred vault running east to west, originally lit by windows in the north and south walls, though these are now blocked. A particularly clever defensive feature exists at mezzanine level: a central door in the external west wall that provides access both to the murder hole chamber and the base of a spiral staircase tucked into the southwest corner.

Each of the main upper chambers showcases elegant medieval fenestration, with single-light windows on the first and second floors evolving into twin-light openings on the third floor, where the missing mullions once divided the apertures. Many of these windows feature distinctive ogee-headed lights with decorative sunken spandrels on their external faces, though some original openings were unfortunately replaced with horizontal concrete slits by the Irish Army during ‘the Emergency’ of World War II. The castle’s domestic arrangements included garderobes, slop-stone openings at the west end of the south wall on multiple floors, and several mural chambers that provided additional living and storage space within the massive walls. Though the battlements have long since disappeared, the tower remains remarkably intact, offering visitors a tangible connection to medieval Ireland’s turbulent past.