Built atop a rock outcrop with its characteristic base-batter still intact, the tower measures approximately 9 metres north to south and 12 metres east to west. The Civil Survey of 1654-6 recorded it as ‘a good Castle with a slate house within a Bawne thereof alsoe an oarchard’, when it belonged to Pierce Butler in 1640. Today, whilst ivy clings heavily to its northern and western walls and scrub grows in the ground floor chamber, the structure remains remarkably well-preserved, offering visitors a tangible connection to medieval Ireland.

The tower’s defensive features tell a story of turbulent times when such fortifications were essential for survival. Entry was gained through a pointed doorway in the eastern wall, protected by both a yett-hole at its apex and a gun-loop immediately to the south. Once inside, potential intruders faced a murder-hole in the entrance lobby and had to navigate past a guardroom before reaching the main chambers. The ingenious design included a double lobby entrance with vaulted mural chambers above, whilst a spiral staircase tucked into the southeast corner provided access to the upper floors. Windows evolved with height; round-headed loops lit the ground floor, whilst the upper levels featured flat-headed single, double, or triple-light windows with hood-mouldings and gun-loop embrasures, combining both defensive necessity with architectural elegance.

The castle’s surroundings reveal further layers of history. A large pond sits directly outside the western end of the northern bawn wall, whilst the substantial bawn walls themselves remain largely intact on three sides. Sometime in the 19th century, the ground in front of the tower was quarried down to bedrock, necessitating the construction of seven stone steps to reach the entrance. Evidence of later modifications includes put-log holes suggesting a now-vanished building once stood against the eastern face, and a single-storey shed built against the southern wall. Intriguingly, two chamfered door jambs from the castle found new life as fireplace surrounds in an 18th-century house located 45 metres to the east-southeast, a reminder of how these ancient structures have been continuously repurposed and reimagined throughout the centuries.