This compact but formidable tower house, measuring just 8 metres east to west by 6 metres north to south, stands as a well-preserved example of medieval defensive architecture. Built from coursed limestone blocks with a distinctive splayed base batter, the structure rises two storeys high, its thick walls measuring an impressive 2.3 metres, clearly designed with defence rather than comfort in mind.

The interior reveals a practical, fortress-like layout typical of early tower houses. The ground floor is divided into two chambers, with the larger room measuring 4.5 by 3 metres, whilst a barrel-vaulted roof spans the upper floor along an east-west axis. Natural light was clearly not a priority for the original builders; only two small windows pierce the thick walls, a rectangular flat-headed opening on the east wall and a narrow slit on the west, leaving the interior suitably gloomy for its defensive purpose. Later additions, including a barrel-vaulted building attached to the western end and another structure on the north side, suggest the castle saw continued use and modification over the centuries, though these later buildings are now too deteriorated to properly examine.

Perhaps the most intriguing remnants of Ballykilmurry’s history are two carved stone heads that once adorned the tower house but now reside behind Ballynamire school. One depicts a man wearing a peaked cap in what appears to be 17th-century style, complete with bulging eyes, prominent nose, and a beard rendered in vertical lines on his chin. The other shows a woman with long plaited hair framing her badly weathered face, possibly styled after the fashion of Queen Elizabeth I’s era. These sculptures suggest the castle underwent a period of refortification by new settlers in the 17th century, who likely added these decorative yet imposing heads to mark their ownership of this ancient stronghold.