Built as a three-storey residence with an attached five-storey stair tower, the castle once belonged to Pierce Cody, an Irish Catholic landowner who played a significant role in the 1641 Rising. Local tradition tells that the castle burned down whilst Cody was away, supposedly at the hands of his own servants, though whether this was accident or design remains unknown. By 1655, the Down Survey recorded it as “a decayed castle and bawn”, marking the end of its active life. Today, the castle sits within a small clearing surrounded by modern forestry plantations, its limestone walls slowly crumbling whilst elder trees grow from within its hollow shell.

The structure reveals the typical defensive features of a 17th-century Irish fortified house. The main rectangular block, measuring roughly 7.5 by 5.6 metres internally, was accessed through a doorway in the projecting southeastern tower, once protected by a machicolation above and secured with a yett (iron gate) and draw-bar. Bartizans at the northwest and southwest corners provided additional defensive positions, whilst simple loops at ground level offered limited light and ventilation. The upper floors, reached by a now-vanished wooden stair within the tower, contained more comfortable living spaces with proper windows, including round-headed openings on the first floor and larger glazed windows on the second. A polished limestone fireplace with chamfered edges still graces the second floor’s north wall, a reminder of the domestic comforts once enjoyed here.

Despite centuries of decay, Castle Pierce retains enough architectural detail to paint a picture of life in a troubled era. The fortified design reflects the uncertain times of 17th-century Ireland, when landowners like Pierce Cody needed both comfortable homes and defensive strongholds. His participation in the 1641 Rising led to the forfeiture of his lands, and the castle’s rapid decline followed soon after. The Down Survey maps from 1655-6 show both the fortified house and its associated bawn (defensive courtyard wall), though the latter is no longer visible at ground level. Water spouts projecting from the walls, dummy chimney stacks, and the remains of internal render hint at the building’s former sophistication, whilst the crude beam-holes and missing floors speak to its long abandonment.