The castle complex centres around a 13th-century keep, later enclosed by an impressive bawn with sophisticated defensive features that speak to centuries of conflict and adaptation. Visitors approaching from the west encounter the main gateway, a pointed arch standing 4.2 metres high, flanked by an unusual splayed outwork with walls that widen from 8.11 metres at the entrance to 10.5 metres at the western end. This outwork, pierced with gun-loops, represents a later addition to the medieval defences, likely added during the turbulent 16th or 17th centuries when firearms had become the primary threat to such fortifications.

The bawn walls trace an irregular path around the castle, adapting cleverly to the natural topography. The northern wall runs for nearly 25 metres along a limestone outcrop, connecting the gateway to a two-storey circular tower at the northeast angle. This tower, though modest with an internal diameter of just 2.3 metres, bristles with gun-loops covering multiple angles of approach and features an unusual doorway cut to fit precisely into a right angle, its head tapering to a point. The upper floor, now home to brick nesting boxes from its time as a dovecote, was originally accessed via the wall-walk and provided additional defensive positions with keyhole gun-loops commanding views to the northwest and west.

The eastern defences make full use of the natural precipice, with walls incorporating both the medieval keep and later buildings that run along the cliff edge. While the southern wall has been lost to time, the western wall stretches over 73 metres and shows evidence of multiple building phases; it contains two gateways, including a round-headed medieval doorway that may have been relocated here in the 18th or 19th century when the area was transformed into a walled garden. Throughout the complex, limestone rubble construction and cut stone detailing reveal the work of skilled craftsmen across several centuries, from the medieval masons who built the original keep to the later builders who added gun-loops, outworks, and domestic improvements as the castle evolved from pure fortification to defended residence.