Built from limestone rubble with carefully cut corner stones, this defensive residence measures approximately 11.8 metres north to south and 10 metres east to west. The Civil Survey of 1652-54 tells us it was then owned by Robert Mageon of Loghlochry, described as a gentleman and Irish Papist, though by that time the castle was already recorded as having burnt walls alongside a thatched house and some cabins. The tower’s defensive features are particularly impressive; double shot-holes protect the northeast, southwest and northwest corners, whilst a distinctive lozenge-shaped gun-loop pierces the eastern wall just below parapet level, and bartizans once projected from the northeast and southwest angles.

The interior layout reveals the careful planning typical of Irish tower houses, with each floor serving distinct purposes. Entry was through a doorway on the eastern wall, leading to a small lobby defended by a murder-hole above, with mural stairs spiralling upward through the thickness of the walls. The ground floor served as storage, whilst the first floor, supported by wooden beams on stone corbels, contained the first proper living space with a centrally placed fireplace featuring polished limestone surrounds. The second floor housed the main defensive capabilities with its multiple shot-holes, whilst also containing a large fireplace in the western wall. The third floor appears to have been the principal living quarters, evidenced by its two fireplaces; one crude limestone example in the south wall and another of polished limestone with an ornamental overmantel in the north wall, suggesting this level may have been divided into separate chambers.

The tower is crowned by steep-pitched gables on all four sides, with the north and south gables being notably larger, and chimney stacks survive on three of them. Windows throughout the structure show a progression from simple defensive openings on lower levels to more elaborate two-light windows with hood-mouldings on the upper floors, reflecting both the defensive and domestic requirements of the building. Artist Du Noyer’s 1840 sketch shows the tower with an outbuilding on the east side and a small turret to the southeast, the latter featuring four high, steep-pitched gables. Today, whilst much of the dressed stonework has been robbed out up to second-floor level, the tower remains an impressive monument to the turbulent history of plantation-era Tipperary, when Irish Catholic gentry like the Mageons maintained these fortress-homes amidst the political and religious upheavals of the 17th century.