This compact structure, measuring roughly 6.8 metres east to west and 5.4 metres north to south, rises three storeys and bears the marks of centuries of restoration and modification. Originally known as Ballymacshanroe Castle and apparently built by the Barry family, the tower showcases the typical defensive architecture of medieval Cork, though its current state reveals how such buildings were repeatedly repurposed over the generations.

The tower’s interior layout reflects its complex history of alterations. The ground floor, now accessed through what was likely once a window opening in the western wall, contains an older doorway at the eastern end of the north wall that has since been converted to hold a modern window frame. A wicker-centred vault covers the door passage, whilst the first floor above features a more substantial bluntly-pointed vault running east to west. A clever architectural detail survives in the southeast corner, where a short spiral staircase connects the first and second floors, its base accessed through an opening in the vault itself. The second floor chamber, lit by central window openings in each wall, includes a later fireplace insertion in the western wall; evidence that the tower saw domestic use long after its military purpose had passed.

The building’s current appearance suggests further stories yet to be fully understood. The crenellations crowning the walls appear to be recent additions, and the absence of gutter holes at this level hints that the tower may once have stood taller. According to local historian Power, writing in 1923, the structure had been used as a pigeon house until shortly before his time; a peaceful end for what began as a fortified residence. Today, topped with a modern corrugated iron roof and showing evidence of various phases of restoration, the tower stands as a tangible link to Great Island’s medieval past, its stones bearing witness to the changing needs and uses of nearly seven centuries.