This round tower at Kellistown is documented through historical sketches and drawings but has been completely obliterated by later construction. The tower appears in the Anthologia Hibernica as a sketch showing it already in ruins, and a drawing by J. Saunders from Trinity College Dublin, believed to date to around 1797, also depicts the structure in a deteriorated state.

By the time of the Ordnance Survey in 1839, the tower had vanished entirely. The OS Letters reveal that the belfry of the local church was built directly on the spot where the round tower once stood, explaining the complete disappearance of any archaeological remains. This represents a common fate for many Irish round towers—their strategic locations near churches made them prime sites for later construction, leading to their complete destruction.

The survival of these late 18th-century artistic records provides valuable evidence for a tower that would otherwise be completely lost to history. The sketches show that by 1797, the structure was already in ruins, suggesting it had been abandoned or damaged in earlier centuries.

The case of Kellistown also helps resolve the confusion mentioned in relation to the questionable round tower at nearby Lorum—scholars have suggested that local traditions about a Lorum tower may actually have been confused memories of this genuine Kellistown example.

The replacement of the medieval round tower with a church belfry represents the practical reuse of ecclesiastical sites, but also highlights how 19th-century development often prioritized function over archaeological preservation.