This four storied tower house built in the fourteenth century by the Anglo Norman de Burgo family, was bought in 1917 by the Irish literary figure W B Yeates for £35. After his marriage in 1917 to Georgie Hyde-Lees, the couple moved into the castle and spent much time converting it into a comfortable and stylish habitation.

From the battlements are fine views of the Slieve Aughy mountains and the tranquil surrounding countryside, many of Yeates most evocative and mystical works were produced here, notably 'The Tower and the Winding Stair', although this is not regarded as one of his better works. It was in his latter years in the tower that Yeate's disillusionment with Irish politics set in, and in 1928 he abandoned the tower and moved to France where he died in 1939.

Yeats was a poet of undoubted ability, but he was also a realist as can be gleaned from the plaque affixed to the tower during the renovations