Built sometime in the late medieval period, this rectangular structure measures roughly 8.5 metres by 6.5 metres, with walls that still rise to an impressive height despite centuries of weathering. The castle’s strategic position offered its inhabitants clear views across the surrounding landscape, whilst its sturdy construction provided protection during the turbulent centuries when local chieftains and Anglo-Norman families vied for control of Clare’s fertile lands.

The castle’s architecture follows the typical pattern of Irish tower houses from this era, with a vaulted ground floor that likely served as storage, and residential chambers above. Though now roofless and partially ruined, the remaining stonework reveals careful construction techniques; the builders used locally quarried limestone and incorporated defensive features such as narrow window openings and thick walls. Archaeological surveys have noted remnants of a bawn wall, suggesting the tower once stood within a fortified enclosure where cattle could be protected and daily activities carried out under the watchful eye of the castle’s occupants.

Today, Rosroe Castle remains largely overlooked by visitors to Clare, overshadowed by more famous sites like Bunratty or the Cliffs of Moher. Yet for those interested in Ireland’s medieval heritage, these ivy-clad walls offer an authentic glimpse into a time when such fortified dwellings dotted the countryside, each one a centre of local power and agricultural life. The castle’s current state of preservation, whilst fragmentary, allows visitors to appreciate both the ambitions of its builders and the inexorable passage of time that has transformed it from a bustling household into a romantic ruin.