This remarkable Z-plan fortified house dates from the seventeenth century and represents an ambitious expansion of an earlier tower house. The property belonged to Theobald Purcell of Loughmoe, recorded as an ‘Irish Papist’ proprietor in 1640, though by then the house was already described as ‘a large demolished stone house’, suggesting it had seen better days even in its early years.

The architecture reveals a fascinating blend of defensive and domestic features typical of its turbulent era. The central rectangular block rises four storeys high with an attic above a semi-basement, measuring 10.2 metres east to west and 26.7 metres north to south. Two angle towers punctuate the structure; a five-storey tower at the northwest corner served as the main accommodation block with fireplaces at every level and a wooden staircase providing access throughout, whilst the southeast tower was purely defensive, bristling with gun loops. The main block likely contained three rooms per floor, separated by wooden partitions. Multiple fireplaces warmed the interior, including a substantial one with a brick oven in the basement’s east wall, presumably for cooking.

The building’s defensive character is evident in its strategic design elements. Two main entrances at first-floor level, one in the west wall’s southern end and another in the east wall’s northern end, kept visitors well above ground level for security. A second-floor doorway in the east wall led to wooden hoarding that accessed a bartizan on the northeast angle; a projecting turret perfect for defence. At roof level, fragments of double-stepped crenellations remain, their central rounded merlons once topped with finials and cleverly concealing the rectangular chimney stacks from external view. The windows throughout are flat-headed with multiple lights, their glazing bar holes still showing the alternating square and lozenge pattern that would have held the glass panes. This combination of residential comfort and military preparedness perfectly captures the uncertain times in which Loughmoe Court was built.