[1] The complex was built by John Rothe Fitz-Piers between 1594 and 1610 and is made up of three houses, three enclosed courtyards, and a large reconstructed garden with orchard.

Rothe House is the only remaining example of a complete burgage plot in Ireland,[1] and considered to be nationally significant because of the range of original post-medieval features that survive.

It features a well dug by Cistercian monks (based in Duiske Abbey in Graiguenamagh) who owned the property before the dissolution of monasteries.

For over 100 years (until 2015), the second house served the Gaelic League as a meeting venue, where Thomas MacDonagh taught Irish history.

It was built in the English Renaissance style which was introduced to the south-east of Ireland by Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, in the 1560s.

[4] The configuration of the original consecutive building sequence of John Rothe's three houses (dating respectively to 1594, 1604 and 1610) has survived intact.