What remains today is little more than a rectangular, grass-covered mound measuring roughly 9.7 metres north to south and 7.6 metres east to west, with chunks of mortared limestone peeking through the vegetation. Along the southern edge, a section of the original walling still stands about 1.5 metres high, though time and weather have claimed most of the structure that once dominated this landscape.

This site is likely the castle recorded as ‘Cowrly’ in a 1574 survey of Galway’s fortifications, when it stood in the barony of Kingestowne, now known as Athenry. Historical records from that period show it was held by one John Wall, though little else is known about him or his tenure there. The tower house would have been typical of its era; a defensive residence built by Anglo-Norman or Gaelicised families to protect their holdings and assert their authority over the surrounding countryside.

The collapsed tower house originally formed the northern portion of a larger defensive complex that included a bawn, or fortified enclosure, which would have sheltered livestock and provided additional protection during raids. Though the castle has long since fallen to ruin and no architectural details survive to hint at its former appearance, the site remains an evocative reminder of the network of small fortifications that once dotted the Irish landscape, each controlling its own patch of territory in an era when local power was measured in stone and mortar.