The castle’s history stretches back centuries, having been held by the Shortall family until the Cromwellian Land Settlement of the 1650s and 60s. After this tumultuous period, the St. Georges took possession and remained here until they constructed the current Kilrush House around 1818. The tower sits in good company, with a medieval building located roughly 110 metres to the east-northeast and a medieval church about 145 metres to the north-northeast.

The tower house itself, measuring approximately 6.3 metres north to south and 8.41 metres east to west, has undergone considerable modification over the centuries but retains fascinating original features. The main entrance on the north wall boasts a remarkable wooden door dating to the late 16th or early 17th century, complete with nine panels formed by applied fillets and ovolo mouldings. This historic door still functions with its original hanging mechanism; carved upper and lower pins that insert into a hanging-eye and spud-stone respectively. For security, the entrance included defensive features typical of tower houses: a draw-bar hole in the western wall and a murder-hole overhead through which defenders could attack unwelcome visitors.

Inside, the ground floor walls, measuring 1.35 metres thick, feature windows on three sides, though the eastern one has been blocked. The first floor, once accessed via a mural stair in the northeast angle, was covered by a barrel-vaulted roof that still shows traces of its original wicker-centring where the plaster has fallen away. The upper floors, now inaccessible due to the collapsed northeast corner, contain modified windows and fireplaces at the second and third levels. Later additions tell their own story; a late 17th or 18th-century house was built directly onto the tower’s south and east faces, and you can still spot the brick fireplace and flue inserted into the tower’s external eastern wall. An estate map from 1750 preserved at Kilrush House depicts this later dwelling alongside its medieval predecessor, documenting the site’s evolution from defensive stronghold to domestic residence.