This tower house belonged to the Macgillycuddy family, a branch of the O’Sullivans, until its last occupant, Doriough Macgillycuddy, backed the wrong side in the 1640s. Supporting the Royalist cause cost him dearly, and local lore says he burned his own castle rather than see it fall into enemy hands. The scorch marks visible on some of the window embrasures might well be evidence of that dramatic final act.

What remains reveals the sophisticated design of a four-storey tower house with a gabled attic. The surviving north wall, built from coursed rubble and lime pebble mortar, showcases remarkable architectural details: fireplaces on three levels, their limestone jambs and rough corbel supports still visible; narrow defensive loops at ground level; and increasingly refined windows as you ascend, culminating in an elegant two-light limestone window on the third floor. The entrance and stairs that once connected these floors were located in the now-vanished southern section, leaving visitors to imagine how the castle’s inhabitants moved through their vertical home.

The defensive features are particularly well preserved at the roofline, where a parapet with stepped merlons, pierced by small gun loops, crowns the structure. A bartizan, supported by finely wrought limestone corbels, juts out at the northeast corner, offering commanding views of approaching threats. Behind the parapet, a clever drainage system of sloping slabs channels rainwater through rectangular outlets, some still fitted with their original dripstones. These practical details, combined with the machicolation at the northeast angle, remind us that this wasn’t just a home but a fortification, built to withstand both Kerry’s weather and its warfare.