Built sometime before 1583, this rectangular fortress measures 8.2 metres by 6.4 metres, with walls ranging from 1.5 to 2.1 metres thick; substantial defences that speak to the turbulent times of its construction. The castle follows a classic Type 1D tower house design, with its entrance positioned along one of the longer walls near a corner, leading to a lobby within the wall’s thickness and a spiral staircase that winds up through the north eastern corner.

The castle’s early history reads like a chronicle of rebellion and changing fortunes. In 1583, it was held by John Crone Sarsfield, also known as Morris mac Edmund Sarsfield, who was in open rebellion against the Crown. The Sarsfields likely built the tower, but their grip on it proved temporary; by 1588, the estate passed to the Billingsley family following Edmund macMorys’s forfeiture. Through the following centuries, ownership shifted between various Anglo-Irish families including the Hunts, who held it until the Cromwellian confiscations of the 1650s, when it was granted to Oliver Lambert and Brook Bridges. The Civil Survey of 1654-56 paints a picture of a fortified homestead complete with “a Castle and a smale bawn” surrounded by thatched houses, suggesting it remained an active centre of local life rather than merely a military outpost.

Local tradition adds a romantic footnote to the castle’s story, claiming that James II spent a night here during his Irish campaign, though like many such tales, it’s difficult to verify. The tower’s interior comprised two storeys beneath a stone vault, with two additional upper levels accessed by the wall stair from the north facing entrance. While the castle appears on the 17th century Down Survey map of Connello Barony, testament to its continued importance in the landscape, today it stands as a silent witness to centuries of Irish history; from Gaelic lordship through English conquest, civil war, and the long peace that followed.