What visitors encounter today are the weathered wall footings of what was likely a tower house, measuring roughly 9 metres square, set within an oval earthwork about 27 metres across. The site first appeared on official records in the 1837 Ordnance Survey Fair Plan maps, marked simply as ‘Site of Fennor Castle’ and shown as a sub-rectangular enclosure with a rounded northwest corner.

The physical remains paint a picture of gradual decay rather than dramatic destruction. Chunks of fallen masonry and collapsed stones lie scattered about, partially covering the foundation walls that once supported a defensive tower house. The surrounding earthwork, still visible as a raised boundary, would have provided an additional layer of defence for the castle’s inhabitants. Interestingly, the castle doesn’t appear on either the Down Survey parish map of Rathconnell from 1655-59 or the Barony map of Moyashel and Magheradernon, suggesting it may have already fallen into ruin by the mid-17th century.

Historical records reveal that by 1641, the lands of Fennor belonged to Edward Nugent, identified in the Down Survey as an ‘Irish Papist’. This designation places the site firmly within the context of Ireland’s turbulent religious and political landscape of the period, when Catholic landowners faced increasing pressure from Protestant authorities. Today, these modest ruins serve as a tangible link to the area’s medieval past, when tower houses dotted the Irish countryside, providing both residence and refuge for the landed gentry.