Originally built taller than its current height, the rectangular structure measures 6.2 metres north to south and 8 metres east to west. The southwest corner has collapsed above the first-floor level, but what remains reveals the typical defensive design of a late medieval tower house. Two doorways, positioned one above the other near the southern end of the western wall, provided access to the ground and first floors.

The ground-floor chamber, measuring 4.1 by 2.5 metres, features a bluntly pointed vault running east to west overhead, with a manhole in the northwest corner leading to the floor above. Light enters through double-splayed window embrasures in the centre of both the eastern and southern walls. While the upper levels are now inaccessible due to the collapsed first-floor doorway, traces of a spiral staircase can still be seen in the southwest corner. The second-floor chamber also has a vault running east to west, and window openings are strategically placed throughout: at first-floor level on the south, east and west walls; at second-floor level on the east and west walls; and at third-floor level on the north wall. Most of the window lights are missing, though the second and third-floor openings retain single lintelled lights. A garderobe chute, essential for medieval sanitation, exits near the base of the north wall.

This was the castle of the O’Hennessy family, who held considerable power in this region of North Cork during the medieval period. The tower house bears remarkable similarity to the nearby tower at Dunmahon, suggesting either a common builder or architectural tradition in the area. Despite its partially ruined state, the structure provides valuable insight into the defensive homes of Gaelic Irish nobility, combining residential comfort with military practicality in a design that was replicated across Ireland during the 15th and 16th centuries.