Built sometime in the 15th or 16th century, this fortified residence would have served as both a defensive stronghold and a family home for a local Gaelic or Anglo-Norman family. Like many tower houses scattered across the Irish countryside, it represents a period when small landowners needed to balance domestic comfort with military practicality, resulting in these distinctive vertical stone fortresses that could withstand raids whilst providing reasonable living quarters.

The structure follows the typical tower house design; a rectangular stone building rising several storeys high with thick walls, narrow windows, and a vaulted ground floor that likely served as storage. The upper floors would have contained the main living spaces, including a hall for dining and entertaining, private chambers, and perhaps a small chapel. Murder holes, spiral staircases designed to favour right-handed defenders, and bartizans projecting from the corners all speak to the defensive considerations that shaped these buildings. The tower house would have originally been surrounded by a bawn, a defensive wall enclosing outbuildings and livestock, though little trace of this remains today.

Stonehall’s tower house is part of a broader architectural legacy that defines much of rural Ireland’s built heritage. These structures emerged during a period of political fragmentation when local lords needed fortified homes to protect their holdings and assert their status. Today, the tower stands quietly in the Clare countryside, its weathered stones bearing witness to centuries of Irish history; from clan conflicts and Cromwellian campaigns to the gradual transition to more peaceful times when such fortifications became obsolete, leaving these towers as romantic ruins dotting the landscape.