This evocative description, attributed to the property of one Jeffry Power, perfectly captures the current state of this medieval tower house. The rectangular structure, measuring approximately 10.55 metres northwest to southeast and 6.2 metres northeast to southwest internally, survives to about six metres in height; just where the barrel vault would have sprung over the ground floor. Today, both the vault and the northwest wall have long since vanished, leaving the tower open to the elements.

Despite its ruined state, the castle retains several fascinating defensive features that hint at its turbulent past. The ground floor preserves a segmental arched embrasure in the northeast wall complete with a gun loop, whilst a similar opening in the southeast wall appears to have accommodated two such defensive positions. These gun loops suggest the tower was modified during the later medieval period when firearms became more prevalent in Irish warfare. A destroyed garderobe chute, visible in the northeast wall, provides evidence of the domestic arrangements, whilst corbels in the northeast and southwest walls once supported a wooden loft floor above, which had its own window in the southeast wall for light and ventilation.

The castle doesn’t stand alone in the landscape; approximately 150 metres to the west lie the earthwork remains of an earlier Norman motte and an associated enclosure site. This proximity suggests a continuity of occupation and defensive use of this strategic location over several centuries, from the initial Norman conquest through to the later medieval period when the stone tower was constructed. Together, these monuments create a palimpsest of medieval fortification, telling the story of how power was maintained and defended in medieval Waterford.