Built around 1450 as a stronghold for the Mac Coghlan clan, this complex began life as a four-storey limestone tower house, measuring 9.7 metres east to west with walls 2.2 metres thick. Though time has taken its toll, leaving only the north wall and part of the west wall standing, the tower still reveals fascinating architectural details: a bartizan (small turret) on the northeast corner complete with a Sheela-na-gig carving, two garderobes accessed via mural passages, and evidence of a destroyed fireplace at second-floor level. The ground floor featured a barrel vault ceiling, whilst the upper storeys had wooden floors supported within the thickness of the walls.

The site evolved significantly during the 16th and 17th centuries when a much larger bawn wall was constructed, stretching 50 by 53 metres and incorporating a wall-walk for defenders. This impressive fortification includes a two-centred gateway with carefully dressed stone jambs, protected by a machicolation and gatehouse overhead. During this period, a substantial fortified house was added south of the original tower, forming the western side of the bawn. This addition, measuring 18.7 by 10.7 metres, featured its own defensive elements including a gun tower at the southwest corner, accessed from the ground floor, and a peculiar double fireplace in the south gable that curiously lacks any visible chimney flue.

The castle’s story of continuous occupation extends well beyond its medieval origins; a Georgian farmhouse was later built against the eastern bawn wall, and archaeological monitoring in 1997 revealed foundations of yet another demolished structure. Today, visitors can trace nearly six centuries of Irish history through the site’s layered architecture, from the medieval tower house with its circular flanking tower connected by the original bawn wall, to the expanded Renaissance fortifications with their sophisticated defensive features, right through to the Georgian additions that speak to the site’s transformation from military stronghold to country residence.