The rectangular tower, measuring 13.2 metres north to south and 10.7 metres east to west, features rounded corners and distinctively battered walls that taper as they rise. Built sometime in the late medieval period, the castle’s defensive position on the cliff edge is enhanced by surviving fragments of its bawn wall, including the remains of a circular corner tower about 35 metres southwest of the main structure. Archaeological evidence suggests the original bawn may have enclosed an area roughly 80 metres square, with circular towers at the corners.

The tower’s interior reveals a complex arrangement of chambers, passages and defensive features spread across eight levels. Entry is through a pointed arch doorway on the ground floor’s western wall, leading to a lobby that connects to both the main chamber and a straight mural staircase. The principal chambers on the lower floors are lit by deep window embrasures with narrow lights, many now blocked, whilst the upper floors feature more elaborate windows including ogee-headed lights on the fourth floor. The castle’s defensive capabilities are evident throughout; murder holes, horizontal arrow slits with sliding shutters, and numerous mural passages allowed defenders to move unseen and protect the structure from multiple angles. A particularly ingenious feature is the walled passageway that descends the cliff face from the bawn, terminating in a partially collapsed circular tower at the base, its walls pierced with five gun loops for defence.

The castle’s turbulent history reflects the broader conflicts of early modern Ireland. Originally a Condon stronghold, it was granted to Fleetwood during the late 16th-century Munster Plantation, only to be temporarily reclaimed by the Condons during the wars of the mid-17th century. The property eventually passed to the Moore family, later Earls of Mount Cashel, in 1781, who undertook repairs in the late 19th century. These renovations included the insertion of fireplaces and new ceiling joists, though much of the original medieval fabric remains intact, including the remarkable pointed vaults with wicker centering that roof several of the main chambers.