Built by Sir Thomas Norris, a senior English administrator during the Munster Plantation, this innovative structure marked a departure from traditional Irish castle design when it was completed in the late 16th century. The rectangular three-storey main house stretches 25 metres north to south and features four distinctive towers; a polygonal tower at the northwest corner, another at the southwest, and two more projecting from the centres of the east and west walls with straight sides and pointed fronts. Norris initially repaired and occupied an earlier Fitzgerald castle on the site before constructing this new residence, which would ultimately meet its demise when Confederate forces assaulted it in 1645 and fire consumed it in 1689.

The house represents a fascinating transition in Irish architecture, prioritising domestic comfort whilst maintaining defensive capabilities. Entry was through two ground-floor doorways featuring three-centred arches with decorative stop chamfers, one even retaining its yett hole for additional security. The interior was cleverly divided by a cross wall aligned with the southern walls of the central towers, with wooden floors throughout indicated by surviving joist sockets. Natural light flooded the rooms through thoughtfully designed windows; single mullions on the ground floor, double mullions with transoms on the first floor, and single mullions with transoms on the second. Multiple fireplaces warmed the chambers, whilst a spiral wooden staircase in the northwest tower provided circulation between floors, possibly supplemented by stairs in the eastern central tower which also contained a garderobe shaft.

Defence wasn’t entirely forgotten in this comfortable home, with gun loops featuring stirrup openings strategically placed along the main western and northern walls and in three of the towers, many positioned directly beneath window sills for maximum effectiveness. A later lean-to annexe was added against the south wall, complete with herringbone-patterned brick paving before its large fireplace and what archaeological investigations describe as a curious bench shaded by a partition or screen. During renovation work, fragments of thick slate and molten lead were discovered, evidence that the timber roof was slated with lead gutters, whilst the architectural reconstruction suggests a gabled roof over the main block with two subsidiary gables on each side wall between the towers, possibly accommodating an attic floor. Today, this National Monument stands in State Guardianship, its ruins offering visitors a remarkable glimpse into the evolving architectural tastes and political tensions of plantation-era Ireland.