The castle, which measures roughly 8.2 metres north to south and 7.1 metres east to west, was already standing in 1574 when records show it belonged to one Hugh McSwyne. Originally four storeys high with characteristic defensive features like a base batter and murder hole above the entrance, the structure commanded an important river crossing point about 90 metres to the south-southwest.

Today, the castle is largely ruined; its entire southern half has collapsed, and a lightning strike caused most of the eastern wall’s outer face to fall away. The northern wall and adjoining portions still reach close to their original height, revealing architectural details that speak to its former grandeur. The main entrance, a pointed doorway set off-centre in the north wall, led to a lobby with that defensive murder hole overhead. From there, visitors could access spiral stairs in the northeast corner or enter the main ground-floor room, now filled with rubble. The tower once had stone vaults between the ground and first floors, and between the second and third floors, though both have largely crumbled. Small chambers flanked the main rooms on the first and second floors, whilst the third floor was a single undivided space.

Archaeological evidence suggests that at some point after its construction, a rectangular two-storey house was built against the tower’s northern face, connected by two doorways still visible in the north wall at different heights. Though little remains of this addition save for a portion of its western wall, the grassed-over stony surface and the shadow of a gable on the tower’s north face hint at a substantial structure measuring approximately 20 metres long and 7.1 metres wide. The surviving architectural elements, including vertical loops that once lit the stairwell and a single ogee-headed window on the second floor, offer glimpses into both the defensive and domestic aspects of life in this Galway stronghold. The castle, now protected under a preservation order, forms part of a wider archaeological landscape that includes the remains of an associated bawn and field system.