What remains today are the south and west corners of a rubble built tower house, measuring approximately 9.35 metres northwest to southeast and 7 metres northeast to southwest, with walls about 1.25 metres thick. The structure, which once stood at least two storeys high, features what appears to be an original entrance on the southeast side. Though largely featureless now, a fragment of masonry located 15 metres from the south corner suggests this tower house was once protected by a bawn wall; a defensive perimeter common to Irish fortified houses of the period.

The castle’s historical significance lies in its connection to John McKeallagh Fitzpatrick, who fortified the structure in 1653, the same year it was confiscated from him. This timing places the castle’s forfeiture within the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, when Catholic landowners across the country lost their estates. Local historian Carrigan, writing in 1905, noted that “a considerable fragment of Ballykealy castle is still standing,” indicating the ruins have weathered more than a century since his observation with little additional deterioration.

Today, these weathered stone walls stand as a testament to the dramatic shifts in land ownership that characterised mid 17th century Ireland. The castle represents one of countless fortified houses that once dotted the Irish landscape, built by Anglo Norman and Gaelic Irish families alike, only to change hands during the political upheavals of the 1650s. Its ruins, though modest, provide a tangible link to this transformative period in Irish history.