Records show the tower was already standing in 1574, when it belonged to ‘Mac Hubert’, likely a member of the local Nolan family. What makes this structure particularly interesting is that it represents only half of what was originally intended; it’s an example of Galway’s two-phase tower houses, where an initial defensive block would be built first, followed by a larger residential addition. In Cloghaun’s case, only that first phase survives, leaving us with an intriguing architectural mystery about whether the second block was ever actually constructed.

The original tower block, measuring roughly 12 metres high by 9 metres by 4.5 metres when surveyed in 1944, was built with defence in mind. Its northwest entrance led to a small lobby that cleverly branched off into a guardroom and spiral stairs on either side, with the main ground floor chamber directly opposite. The upper floors would have each contained a single chamber accessed via those spiral stairs. Evidence of the planned expansion remains visible in the structure itself; the southeast wall was built perfectly perpendicular rather than with the defensive base-batter found on the other three walls, indicating it was meant to become an internal wall once the second phase was complete. Protruding stones on the northeast and southeast corners, still visible in old photographs, would have knitted the two blocks together.

After centuries of decline that left it in ruins by the mid-20th century, the tower underwent extensive restoration beginning in the 1970s, first as a family home and later as a wedding venue in the 1990s. The reconstruction work was considerable, including new windows, completely rebuilt roof and parapets, and what appears to be total reconstruction of all walls above the third floor. A modern bawn wall now surrounds the tower, complete with an arched gateway and a circular turret at the northwest corner, creating a romanticised version of what a complete castle complex might have looked like. While these additions have given the tower new life, they’ve also transformed it significantly from its medieval origins, when it stood as a solitary defensive structure watching over the Galway countryside.