This impressive tower house dates back to at least the early 17th century, when it formed part of Sir Robert Talbot’s estate in 1633. By 1640, according to the Civil Survey, the property had expanded to 292 acres and included two castles, a church, a mill and a weir, jointly owned by Sir Robert Talbot of Carrtown and Adam Missett of Belewstown. The Talbot family maintained ownership until the 1690s, when Sir William Talbot’s attainder saw the castle pass to Henry Cadogan in 1703.

The tower house itself is a substantial rectangular structure measuring 12 metres by 4.5 metres internally, topped with a barrel vault that’s been divided by a later wall. What makes Liscartan particularly interesting is its unusual design: rectangular towers project from three of its four corners, each serving different functions. The western tower contains the main entrance with a mezzanine level above, whilst the northern tower houses a garderobe chute and newel stairs that curiously don’t connect to the ground floor chamber. The eastern tower provides access to an enclosed courtyard that sits between the castle and a later stone house, which remained inhabited well into the Victorian era under the ownership of T. Gerrard, who ran a nearby flourmill.

The castle rises through multiple levels, each accessed via the corner tower staircases. The first floor above the vault opens into a single chamber lit by narrow windows, some featuring distinctive ogee heads. The second floor, supported on corbels projecting from the long walls, boasts a particularly fine double light ogee headed window in its southwestern wall. The corner towers continue upward past the now destroyed parapet level, with turrets crowning each tower; the eastern turret contains another garderobe, whilst the northern one features pigeon holes, a common addition that provided both fresh meat and valuable fertiliser for medieval households. Just 60 metres away stands the parish church of Liscartan, creating a small but significant cluster of medieval buildings that speak to the area’s long history of settlement and prosperity.