This five-storey tower house, built from roughly coursed limestone rubble, once stood as a formidable stronghold within a larger bawn complex. Just across the river to the north, connected by an ancient ford, lie the medieval church and graveyard of Urlingford, with earthwork settlements surrounding both sites that hint at a thriving medieval community. The modern town of Urlingford now sits about 400 metres to the south, having shifted away from its medieval origins.

The castle’s ownership history reveals its significance in Irish nobility. The Down Survey of 1655-6 records Lord Mountgarrett, an Irish Catholic, as the proprietor in 1640. By the mid-17th century, the tower was occupied by Captain Edward Butler, son of Richard, third Viscount Mountgarret and grandson of Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone; a lineage that connected two of Ireland’s most powerful noble families. Butler’s fate was sealed during the Cromwellian conquest when he was executed in 1653, marking a violent end to centuries of Butler dominance in the region.

Today, the tower house stands partially collapsed, its northern wall and portions of the east and west walls having fallen by 1905. What remains measures approximately 6.15 metres east to west and features walls up to 1.4 metres thick, with a distinctive base batter rising about 3 metres. The structure retains fascinating architectural details: a barrel vault over the first floor, various window embrasures including what appears to be an ogee-headed window at third-floor level, and wall cupboards carved into the thick walls. Heavy ivy growth now obscures much of the eastern face and internal features, whilst traces of internal plaster throughout the structure serve as ghostly reminders of its once-inhabited state. The surviving stonework, resting directly on the rock outcrop, demonstrates the medieval builders’ skill in adapting their construction to the natural landscape.