It is, according to the archaeological record compiled by Caimin O'Brien, likely the oldest surviving domestic structure in this cluster of buildings at Beagh, and its solitary appearance is a good indication of how much has changed around it over the centuries.

The complex at Beagh is a palimpsest of different periods, each layer added to or modified by the next. At its core is Beagh Castle, a tower house, the kind of tall, narrow fortified residence common in late medieval Ireland, which sits directly atop a short cliff on the estuary shore, a short distance west of Beagh Quay. By the nineteenth century, the castle had been repurposed as a coastguard station, and an artillery blockhouse was added to its western side, reflecting the more organised state interest in monitoring the Shannon's busy maritime traffic. A courtyard was laid out, and along its southern edge, about 25 metres from the castle, a row of cottages was built running east to west. Amongst these, the structures at the western end appear to be the oldest, possibly dating from the seventeenth century onwards, according to a 2008 assessment by Ní Cheallacháin. The prominent chimney stack, which retains the appearance of seventeenth-century construction, seems to belong to this earliest phase. Further east along the row, a set of dormer cottages of eighteenth or nineteenth-century character may have housed coastguard personnel during the station's active period.

The site sits on the southern shore of the estuary, west of Beagh Quay, and the cliff-edge setting means the castle and its attendant buildings are exposed to weather coming in off the water. The courtyard retains traces of its enclosing walls, including the remains of a return wall at the south-west angle, though much of this has been destroyed. Visitors approaching from the quay will find the complex reveals itself gradually, with the tower house and blockhouse most immediately visible before the domestic range to the south comes into view. The freestanding chimney stack, easy to overlook against the broader architectural clutter of the site, repays closer attention as probably the earliest remaining evidence of domestic life at Beagh.