This roughly trapezoidal fortified enclosure, measuring approximately 68 metres north to south and 62 metres east to west, protected the tower house that still stands in its southeast corner. The bawn walls, built from limestone rubble and reaching heights of up to 3.2 metres, feature an impressive array of defensive elements including gun-loops of various designs; flat-headed, keyhole, and stirrup-loops, some enhanced with cross-slits. A small circular tower guards the northwest angle, its two-storey structure complete with a dressed stone dome and defensive gun-loops, though square and circular holes indicate it was later repurposed as a dovecote.

The castle’s history is tied to the powerful Butler family, particularly Pierce Ruadh Butler, Earl of Ormond, who died in 1539. His son Richard Butler, who became the first Lord Mountgarret, inherited the property, which remained in the family until the third Lord Mountgarret forfeited his lands during the Cromwellian regime. The estate was then granted to Lieutenant Arthur St George. Archaeological investigations in 1999 uncovered evidence of what may have been a defensive moat outside the eastern wall, adding another layer to our understanding of the site’s fortifications.

Today, visitors can still access the wall-walk via surviving stone stairs in both the eastern and northern walls, offering views across the surrounding landscape where other medieval sites dot the countryside; the medieval church of Clomantagh lies just 120 metres south, whilst Tubbrid Castle, another tower house, can be seen about 1.5 kilometres away. The bawn’s interior now contains an orchard in the northeast sector and various farm buildings dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, along with a series of bee-boles inserted into the northern wall, likely contemporary with the angle tower’s conversion to a dovecote. The entrance, originally near the northern end of the western wall, has been broken out and repaired over the centuries, though its arch is now missing.