Today, only a small section of the northern wall remains standing; a lonely fragment stretching roughly 1.5 metres in length and rising to an impressive four metres in height. Built from roughly coursed limestone rubble, the wall measures 0.8 metres thick, typical of defensive structures from the medieval period when such castles dotted the Irish landscape.

What makes Ballykilmurry particularly intriguing is how little we can deduce from what remains. The surviving wall fragment lacks any distinctive architectural features that might help historians piece together its original appearance or purpose. One small clue does exist, however: a bar slot measuring 10 centimetres square, which likely once held the iron bars of a ground floor window on the northern wall. A second bar slot is also visible, though its original function remains unclear.

The castle’s current state makes it impossible to analyse its original layout or determine when it was built, who lived there, or what role it played in local history. These meagre remains serve as a poignant reminder of how many stories from Ireland’s past have been lost to time, leaving us with fragments that hint at grander tales we’ll never fully know. The information about this site comes from the Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly, published in 1997, with updates based on more recent research conducted up to 2011.