By the time of the Civil Survey in 1654-6, this once formidable stronghold was already described as ‘a ruinous castle with a bawne about it’. The property belonged to Sir Richard Butler of Knockytocher, County Kilkenny, who is recorded as an ‘Irish Papist’ in the 1640 proprietor listings. The Butlers were one of Ireland’s most powerful Anglo-Norman families, and their association with this castle speaks to the complex religious and political landscape of 17th century Ireland.

What remains today is a tower house accompanied by what locals firmly believe to be the original bawn wall, a defensive perimeter that would have enclosed the castle’s courtyard. This wall runs east to west along the north side of the tower house ruins, stretching approximately 55 metres in length. Though it stands nearly two metres high, the structure has been heavily modified; its entire surface has been rendered with concrete, completely obscuring the original stonework. Modern farm buildings and a milking parlour have been built against its internal face, with a farm building occupying what may have been the northwest corner where the bawn wall would have turned.

The Ordnance Survey Letters of 1840 noted that ‘the walls of the bawn remain still on the north side of this ruin’, lending credence to the local tradition that identifies this structure as part of the castle’s original defensive works. While the concrete rendering and agricultural adaptations have transformed its appearance, the wall’s substantial dimensions; 0.46 metres wide and 1.92 metres high; suggest it was indeed built for defensive purposes rather than simple agricultural use. These remnants offer a tangible connection to Ireland’s turbulent past, when tower houses and their protective bawns dotted the landscape, serving as both homes and fortresses for the country’s ruling families.