This three-storey mansion with attic space was built by Sir Walter Coppinger in the early 1600s, combining the defensive features of a castle with the domestic comforts of a manor house. The rectangular main block stretches 21.8 metres east to west and 8 metres north to south, with three distinctive towers; one at each of the northern corners and another projecting from the centre of the southern wall. Though partially covered in ivy and showing considerable deterioration in its upper walls, the structure still reveals fascinating details about life in plantation-era Ireland.

The house was surprisingly well-appointed for its time, featuring seven chimney stacks (four of which still stand) serving multiple fireplaces throughout the building. The largest fireplace, located at ground level in the northwest tower, likely served as the kitchen, whilst the northeast tower uniquely contained the house’s only basement. Architectural details that survive include square-headed window lights with transom and mullion divisions, adorned with external hood mouldings featuring stepped terminals. The southern tower appears to have housed wooden newel stairs, whilst the main block featured a central partition lobby on each floor, evidenced by paired doorways from the stairway. Despite its domestic refinements, Coppingers Court was built with security firmly in mind; five sets of machicolations protected most of the external walls, supplemented by nine gun loops at ground level covering the remaining sections.

The house’s violent history was brief but decisive. In 1641, during the Confederate Wars, the mansion was burnt and appears to have remained unoccupied ever since, leaving it as a haunting monument to a turbulent period in Irish history. An enclosure on the north side of the house once contained additional buildings along its western edge, with traces still visible including a large fireplace complete with bread oven. Today, overlooked by higher ground to the west, north and east, these evocative ruins offer visitors a tangible connection to the complex social and political landscape of 17th-century Ireland, when English settlers like the Coppingers attempted to establish grand estates whilst maintaining constant vigilance against potential threats.