What remains today is a substantial multi-period fortress that began life as a 13th-century Desmond stronghold, though local tradition recorded in 1840 suggests the Earl of Desmond built it around 1400. This later date likely refers to the construction of the impressive bawn wall that enclosed the earlier structures. The site consists of a large rectangular bawn measuring approximately 45.7 metres on the east side and 54.8 metres on the south, with walls that once stood 7.6 metres high and 1.5 metres thick, built from carefully cut limestone blocks bound with high-quality mortar.

The castle’s most distinctive feature is its unusual octagonal donjon tower in the north-east corner, measuring nearly 6 metres in internal diameter and originally rising four storeys high. This tower featured a remarkable dome vault with stones arranged on edge in concentric circles, and an anti-clockwise spiral staircase; an uncommon architectural choice in Irish castles. The bawn originally had towers at multiple corners, including a polygonal tower at the south-west angle and foundations of another tower on the north-west side. The main entrance was through a pointed archway on the south side, complete with defensive features like bar-holes, and possibly a gatehouse structure flanking the entrance internally.

By 1584, when the Desmond Survey was compiled, the castle was already described as ‘very ruinous’ and ‘not defensible’, though the surrounding manor lands remained exceptionally fertile. The survey recorded the presence of a water mill, demesne lands, and the nearby village of Creans, which had been devastated during the rebellion with only the walls of an old chapel remaining. After passing through various hands, including Sir George Bourchier and later the Earl of Bath, the castle continued to deteriorate. The 1654-56 Civil Survey noted that despite its ruined state, the site still maintained considerable importance with 30 houses and cabins, a mill, and legal courts. Today, centuries of stone robbing have left the walls stripped of much of their facing, though enough survives to appreciate the ambition and skill of its medieval builders.