Built by the Mac Coghlans in 1450, this limestone fortress evolved through multiple building phases, each leaving its architectural mark on the site. What remains today is a fascinating palimpsest of defensive structures, from the original medieval tower house to later fortified additions and even a Georgian farmhouse.

The oldest part of the complex is the four-storey tower house, though only its north and partial west walls still stand. Built from roughly coursed limestone rubble, the tower features several intriguing defensive and domestic elements, including a bartizan (a small turret) on the northeast corner and two garderobes; essentially medieval toilets built into the walls at the first and second floor levels. Perhaps most unexpectedly, a Sheela-na-gig, one of those mysterious female fertility figures found on medieval Irish buildings, sits beside the corbel of a destroyed bartizan. A circular tower, connected to the main structure by the original bawn wall, projects from the western side.

During the 16th or 17th century, the castle underwent significant expansion. A larger bawn wall, measuring roughly 50 by 53 metres with a wall-walk along its top, was constructed with an impressive two-centred gateway featuring carefully dressed stone jambs. Above this gateway, a machicolation (an opening through which defenders could drop objects on attackers) was accessed via a gatehouse. This building phase also saw the addition of a substantial fortified house along the western bawn wall, complete with a gun tower at its southwest corner and curious architectural features like a double fireplace in the south gable that mysteriously lacks any visible chimney flue. The site’s remarkable continuity is evident in the later addition of a Georgian farmhouse to the eastern bawn wall, showing how this medieval stronghold adapted and survived into the modern era.