Built from roughly coursed rubble and topped with a crenellated wall-walk, the castle measures 13.2 metres north to south and 10 metres east to west. Whilst the western face has been significantly altered with the addition of a Georgian door and façade, the original medieval defences remain visible elsewhere, including the remnants of a two-ordered door on the south wall that was once protected by a machicolation at wall-walk level.

The interior reveals layers of history across its various floors. Beyond the entrance, a barrel-vaulted guard room still shows evidence of its original wicker-work centring, accessed through a two-centred doorway complete with a hanging eye. A spiral staircase in the southwest corner connects all levels, from the heavily modified ground floor to the first floor with its barrel-vaulted ceiling and toggled fireplace in the northeast corner. The second floor houses a large room featuring punch-dressed window jambs, whilst a doorway in the northwest angle leads to a bartizan and mural passage that once connected to a now-destroyed Jacobean house; only its distinctive diagonal chimney stacks remain as testament to this 17th-century addition.

The castle’s complex history reflects the turbulent politics of medieval Ireland. Originally an O’Carroll stronghold, it was captured by English forces in 1557 and later granted to the Darby family in the 17th century. The defensive bawn that once surrounded the castle on three sides, with natural cliffs providing protection to the east, has been considerably altered by 18th-century landscaping and rebuilding work. The late 16th-century tower house core, combined with 17th-century additions and Georgian modifications, creates a fascinating architectural palimpsest that earned the structure a place on the Register of Historic Monuments in 1976.