Records show the castle existed by 1574, when Walter Burke held possession of the property. Originally rising at least four storeys high, the limestone structure measured 9.1 metres in length and over 8.5 metres in width, with walls constructed from roughly cut, coursed blocks. A distinctive feature was its almost square turret projecting from the northeast corner, measuring 4.6 by 4 metres.

When archaeologists from University College Galway first documented the site in August 1984, they found a structure in poor condition but still revealing important architectural details. The tower featured a gentle base batter and visible plinth on its north side, with surviving portions of the eastern and southern walls reaching 3.5 metres in height, whilst the western wall stood at 3 metres. The 1.6 metre thick walls had mostly collapsed into grassed over stony mounds, with the interior filled with rubble and no architectural features visible. The turret, however, remained remarkably intact at that time; its walls, measuring between 0.85 and 1.1 metres thick, still stood four storeys high with chamfered corners and partially covered in ivy.

The turret’s defensive features included stone vaults between the ground and first floors, and between the second and third floors, with a possible connecting doorway to the main tower on the first floor. Narrow slit windows were strategically placed throughout: centrally positioned in the north and east walls at ground level, with the northern opening featuring a gun loop expansion at its midpoint for defensive purposes. Additional slit windows appeared on the first and second floors of the north wall and the first floor of the south wall. Unfortunately, in October 1991, explosives reduced the turret to a mound of rubble, though the site remains protected under a preservation order issued that same year.