While documentary evidence about this Anglo-Norman family remains frustratingly scarce, their mark on the landscape endures through this three-storey fortification. Catherine D’Exeter’s name survives on a memorial cross at nearby Nevinstown, though by the 17th century, the family had lost their grip on these lands. The Civil Survey of 1654-6 tells us that by 1640, the Lord of Slane owned 185 acres here at what was then called Carrick Desert and Piggshills, complete with ‘a castle, a stone house with a stable, a weare and two mills’.

The tower house itself is a compact defensive residence, measuring roughly 9 metres by 6.7 metres internally, with clever architectural features that balanced security with domestic comfort. Entry is gained through a pointed doorway on the northwest side, which leads to a newel staircase tucked into a tower at the north angle. The ground floor, with its barrel-vaulted ceiling and two double-splay loops in the southeast wall, would have served as storage and perhaps quarters for servants. As you climb the spiral stairs, each floor reveals more of medieval life; narrow windows pierce most walls for light and defence, whilst fireplaces on the southeast walls of the upper floors provided warmth for the family’s living quarters.

What makes this tower house particularly intriguing is its relationship with the attached house that was added later, accessible through doorways cut into the northeast wall. A separate garderobe tower at the southern angle provided medieval sanitation, accessed from both the first and second floors. Though the parapet has long since crumbled away, corner turrets still cling to each angle, once allowing defenders to survey the river crossing below and the surrounding countryside. The floors themselves were supported by corbels and wooden beams, their empty sockets still visible in the ancient stonework, silent testimony to centuries of habitation and eventual abandonment.