Built by Sir Claude Hamilton in the years following the early 17th-century colonisation of Ulster, this defensive residence featured a tower house design with turrets, possibly incorporating elements of Scottish baronial architecture; a style that would have been familiar to the Scottish settlers who arrived during the Plantation. The house was accompanied by a bawn, a defensive walled courtyard typical of Plantation-era fortifications, which provided protection for both the inhabitants and their livestock during raids.

Sir Claude Hamilton was part of the wave of British landowners who received grants of confiscated Irish lands during the Plantation of Ulster. These new landlords needed fortified residences to establish their authority and defend against potential attacks from the dispossessed Irish population. The combination of a turreted house with a bawn represented a common architectural solution of the period, blending residential comfort with military necessity.

Today, no visible traces of Hamilton’s stronghold remain above ground, and even its exact location has been lost to time. What we know of this vanished fortress comes primarily from historical records, particularly those compiled by Oliver Davies in the 1940s. The site serves as a reminder of how thoroughly some chapters of Ireland’s built heritage have been erased, whether through deliberate destruction, abandonment, or simply the passage of centuries.