This fortified residence has an intriguing history of ownership, beginning with the Knights Hospitallers of Kilbarry before the Suppression of the Monasteries. The property then passed to the Wyse family, who likely constructed the gatehouse and bawn that visitors can see today. By the 17th century, the Sherlock family of Butlerstown Castle had taken possession of the site.

The castle’s most prominent feature is its rectangular gatehouse, measuring approximately 12.45 metres northeast to southwest and 7.55 metres northwest to southeast, rising to about 6 metres in height. This two-storey structure, topped with an attic on its northwest side, contains fascinating defensive and domestic features. The entrance passage, nearly 3 metres wide with rounded stone arches, leads to a barrel-vaulted chamber fitted with four defensive loops; three of these are double-splayed for maximum visibility and arrow coverage. The first floor once housed more comfortable quarters, complete with a garderobe in a projecting tower at the north angle, a fireplace in the southeast wall, and multiple windows. The attic level featured additional windows in each gable and a machicolation positioned strategically over the north angle for dropping missiles on attackers below.

Surrounding the gatehouse, the substantial bawn creates a defensive enclosure covering roughly 0.3 hectares. This subrectangular space, measuring between 40 and 58 metres on its longer axis and about 50 metres across, is defined by mortared stone walls standing up to 2.4 metres high on three sides, whilst a stone-faced earthen bank, 5 metres wide and up to 1.7 metres tall, completes the southwest boundary. Though the bawn has been divided into three fields in modern times, its impressive scale still hints at the castle’s former importance as both a defensive stronghold and administrative centre in east Waterford.