The structure, measuring approximately 9.3 metres by 8.8 metres with walls over two metres thick, retains its dressed limestone quoins and slight base-batter despite being rendered in plaster and partially covered in ivy. Originally taller, the tower house has been modified over time; its roof was lowered and altered to create a gable-fronted building that now balances aesthetically with the eighteenth and nineteenth-century additions to the northwest. The Civil Survey of 1654-6 records it as ‘the ruins of an old castle & Bawne’ belonging to Charles Carroll, suggesting it was already in a state of decline by the mid-seventeenth century.

The tower house shows clear signs of later alterations that transformed it from a defensive structure into a more comfortable residence. The original entrance, likely positioned at ground level in the northeast wall, has been replaced with a modern timber-frame doorway, whilst a French door was added at first-floor level and a twelve-pane sash window inserted at the current gable level. The southwest wall features large windows at both ground and first-floor levels, though one small original window survives at ground level with its characteristic internal splay, albeit slightly enlarged. These modifications reflect the building’s evolution from medieval fortification to Georgian-influenced country house.

Perhaps the most fascinating defensive feature is the moat that once surrounded the house on three sides, remnants of which still survive as a deep, partially water-filled fosse, particularly impressive at the northeast corner. This defensive ditch disappears beneath farmyard buildings to the north, re-emerges northwest of the house, and eventually feeds into a stream on the western side. Historical Ordnance Survey maps from the 19th century clearly show this moat system, and until recently, traces could be detected around much of the tower house’s perimeter. Whether this water defence was constructed alongside the original tower house or added during the seventeenth-century renovations remains uncertain, adding another layer of mystery to this remarkable survivor of Ireland’s turbulent past.