This square tower, measuring just under 6 metres east to west, originally served as the entrance to a bawn, the defensive courtyard typical of Irish tower houses. Though it stood at its full two-storey height well into the 19th century, time has taken its toll; the entire south wall has collapsed, leaving only the northern wall standing nearly complete beneath its thick blanket of ivy.

The gatehouse’s construction tells the story of skilled medieval craftsmanship, built from uncoursed limestone bound with lime mortar and featuring the distinctive base-batter common to defensive structures of the period. The central archway in the north wall, 1.75 metres wide with its pointed arch framed by dressed limestone blocks, would have been the main entrance to the complex. Today, fallen masonry chokes this doorway, and rubble fills the interior to first-floor level, covering the remains of what was once a groin vault ceiling. A high wall extends eastward from the tower, set back 2.5 metres from its northern face, whilst the western side lies buried beneath centuries of debris.

Historical drawings from 1878 reveal details now lost to decay and vegetation, including a rectangular window above the main doorway and battlements crowning the tower’s summit. Based on its architectural style and construction methods, the gatehouse appears to date from the 15th or 16th century, built contemporaneously with the surrounding bawn wall. This dating places it firmly within Ireland’s turbulent late medieval period, when such fortified residences served both as symbols of authority and practical defences for the Anglo-Norman and Gaelic families who controlled the countryside.