This Desmond tower house, measuring 8.6 metres by 7.2 metres, rises through multiple levels; two storeys sit beneath a stone vault, with another storey above, though time has left its mark on all the floors. The structure follows a clever defensive design typical of Type 1E tower houses, where visitors entering at ground level would find themselves in an entrance lobby with doorways leading to both a mural recess and a passage connecting to a spiral staircase tucked into the southeast corner. The east wall contains two rooms positioned above the entrance passage, whilst evidence suggests a now lost upper storey once featured a latrine in the northeast corner.

The castle’s political significance became strikingly clear in 1599 when Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, chose this very spot to proclaim James FitzGerald as the Earl of Desmond, a bold act of defiance during the Nine Years’ War. Before this dramatic moment, the castle had been granted to the Billingsley family in 1588, marking one of many ownership changes that would characterise its history. By the time of the Civil Survey of 1654 to 1656, the castle and its surrounding 60 Irish acres had passed into the hands of Thomas FitzGerald of Rathnaseer, recorded somewhat pointedly as an “Irish Papist” in the Protestant administration’s documentation.

Today, whilst the castle shows considerable wear from its centuries of existence, its architectural bones remain clear enough for historians like Donnelly and Salter to map its original layout and defensive features. The compact design, with its carefully planned mural passages and strategic staircase placement, reveals the practical considerations of medieval Irish tower house construction; these weren’t just homes but fortified residences built to withstand both siege and the harsh Irish weather.