The defensive perimeter survives most visibly through its northwest corner tower and adjoining fragments of the western and northern walls, though much of the western wall collapsed during the harsh winter of 2010-11 and again in 2012. The bawn’s western wall contains two doorways; a narrow postern gate immediately south of the tower, and a second entrance further along. Within this fortified enclosure lies St Nicholas’ Well, where locals traditionally gathered each 6th December to celebrate the saint’s feast day.

The northwest tower demonstrates the defensive sophistication of the complex, standing as an open-backed structure with granite quoins and multiple floors connected by a newel staircase at its southwest corner. The tower’s first floor sits above a barrel vault supported on corbels, with access originally gained from the bawn’s wall-walk through a lintelled doorway. Each of the upper floors features narrow windows facing west, north and east, whilst the destroyed wall-walk once topped the structure with a lookout platform positioned above the stair housing. The construction methods vary between floors, with the third floor resting on corbels in the east and west walls, whilst the fourth floor’s joists were inserted directly into the north and south walls.

The main entrance to the complex was through an imposing gatehouse attached to the western end of the church nave on the southern side. This structure featured a pointed archway fitted with hinges for double doors and a portcullis slot in the roof, leading through a barrel-vaulted passage into the enclosure. A newel staircase at the southwest corner provided access to the upper chambers, where defenders could operate the portcullis and maintain watch through windows on three sides. The second floor possibly connected to the church’s south aisle wall-walk through a doorway in the eastern wall, integrating the religious and defensive elements of this remarkable medieval complex.