According to the Civil Survey of 1654-6, Barnwall owned 252 acres here in Rathcore parish, complete with ‘one Castle and some Farme houses and Cabbins’. The tower house, measuring approximately 5.55 metres east to west and 6 metres north to south, retains its original barrel vaults over both the ground and first floors, though ivy now obscures much of its parapet and defensive features.

The castle’s architecture tells a story of both medieval defence and later domestic adaptation. A semicircular stair tower projects from the centre of the eastern wall, whilst remnants of walls extending from this tower and the southeastern angle hint at a now-lost bawn that once provided additional fortification. The ground floor, accessed through a later carriage doorway inserted into the north wall, features several blocked embrasures that once provided light and ventilation. The first floor contains a garderobe chamber with plastered walls, suggesting continued use well into the eighteenth or nineteenth century, alongside an inserted corner fireplace that speaks to later attempts at modernisation.

The upper levels reveal further modifications over time. The second floor chamber, reached by a lintelled doorway, boasts enlarged windows on each wall, though the southern one has been blocked. A small chamber at the southeastern angle features a machicolation projecting from the south wall; a defensive feature that allowed defenders to drop objects on attackers below. Throughout the structure, evidence of later alterations, including brick fireplaces and the removal of stairs below the first floor (replaced with wooden flooring), demonstrates how this medieval fortress evolved to meet changing needs whilst remaining largely intact, a testament to both its robust construction and continued usefulness across centuries.