What began as a tower house has been thoroughly transformed into a Georgian period residence with later additions on its western and southern sides. The building rises three storeys high, with distinctive angle towers that extend above the battlement level; though the crenellations adorning the tower tops and parapet walls are modern additions rather than original medieval features.

The structure retains intriguing hints of its defensive past despite extensive modernisation. Projecting towers mark the southeast and northwest corners, with the southeastern tower extending about two metres eastward and originally housing the main stairwell. The original entrance, now blocked up, was positioned at the eastern end of the south wall and opened into an east-west barrel vault before leading to the stairs. Today's large doorway in the centre of the north wall is a later insertion, as are most of the current windows; only a simple slit opening at ground level in the north wall survives from the original defensive architecture.

The interior modifications have obscured much of the building's medieval character. Plastering throughout means the barrel vault's centring is no longer visible, and there's no remaining trace of what would have been a garderobe in the northwest tower. The house, now known as Knockabbey, stands as a palimpsest of Irish architectural history, where Georgian comfort and later Victorian additions have been layered onto a medieval defensive core, creating a unique blend of domestic and military architecture spanning several centuries.