The location served as the principal seat of the Mac Carthy Riabhach clan from the early 15th century, though its history took a dramatic turn during the Confederate Wars when it surrendered in 1642 following an artillery attack. The Stalwell family extensively restored and enlarged the property during the 18th and 19th centuries, transforming it into an L-shaped house complete with Victorian Gothic battlements, towers and turrets. After burning in 1920 during the War of Independence, it lay in ruins until Russell Winn restored it in 1969, and remarkably, it remains inhabited today.

At the heart of the current structure lies the original tower house, its medieval bones still visible in the eastern end of the south range. Enter through the doorway in the north wall and you’ll find yourself in a room covered by a semicircular stone vault running north to south, with two original square-headed window lights surviving in the north and east walls. The lower courses of a spiral stone staircase can still be seen in the northeast corner. An inscribed keystone that once graced a mantlepiece here, reading “AD 1596 DONALDUS CARTI ET MARGARETA GERALD FECERUNT” (Donal McCarthy and Margaret Fitzgerald made this tower, AD 1596), has since been relocated to the grounds of Upton House near Inishannon.

The defensive capabilities of the site are evident in the circular tower at the southeast corner of what is now the farmyard. This ivy-covered structure, measuring 3.95 metres in internal diameter, likely stood at the corner of the original bawn and features an intriguing gun loop design; the outer circular openings were created by boring semicircular grooves along the touching edges of rectangular stone slabs. Though much altered over time, with the first floor rebuilt and ground floor repaired, four of the original six gun loops survive, albeit blocked up. The 19th-century farm buildings that flank the house add another layer to this palimpsest of Irish history, where each century has left its mark on the landscape.