Though time has reduced this once formidable stronghold to partial ruins, what remains tells a compelling story of defensive architecture and noble occupation. The castle’s eastern wall, stretching nearly 9 metres in length, rises to just above first floor level, whilst the northern and southern walls survive only as fragments, their corners distinctively rounded in the Irish tower house tradition.

The castle’s original entrance appears to have been located at ground level near the eastern end of the south wall, where visitors would have encountered an ingenious defensive feature: mural stairs built directly into the wall’s thickness, ascending eastward to the first floor. Today, these stairs lie partially collapsed and grass covered, though the foundations of the doorway leading to the ground floor chamber remain visible. This chamber, measuring just over 4 metres from north to south, bears evidence of later modifications; a row of joist sockets in the eastern wall suggests timber additions made long after the castle’s initial construction, whilst a single corbel on the northern wall marks where the original wooden ceiling once stood.

The upper level reveals more sophisticated architectural details, including a spiral staircase rising from the southeast corner and the remnants of a pointed, wicker centred vault that once roofed the main chamber. The eastern wall’s window embrasure, covered by a flat vault, contains an intriguing architectural palimpsest; the current window opening was inserted later, yet the head of an earlier ogee arched light remains visible, offering a glimpse of the castle’s medieval elegance. Historical records connect the castle to the Roches, Viscounts Fermoy, and by 1654 it had passed to Richard Gethin, who undertook repairs to maintain this clifftop fortress.