It is a ring barrow, a type of funerary monument common in Bronze Age Ireland, consisting of a central raised platform encircled by a ditch and an outer bank. The one on Slieveboy measures about 23.5 metres across in total, with the inner platform running to around 11 metres in diameter. What makes it quietly arresting is not just its preservation but its position: to the east, from this spot, the barrow-cemeteries at Lakill and Moortown are visible on the horizon, suggesting that whoever chose this hilltop was working within a landscape already marked, and perhaps already understood as significant.

When David McGuinness surveyed the monument in 2015, he found it fairly well preserved despite some obvious interference. A stretch of about 10 metres on the north-north-west side has been partially dismantled, the bank largely removed and the ditch filled in. On the north-east side, the bank bulges outward and is noticeably more massive than elsewhere, which may reflect the accumulation of spoil from the removed section nearby. Where the bank survives intact, it rises up to 0.5 metres above the surrounding ground and up to 1.15 metres above the base of the ditch on the east side, giving a reasonable sense of its original scale. The ditch itself is broad and flat-based, measuring around 2.7 to 2.8 metres wide where it can be measured, with the outer bank running slightly wider at 4 to 4.5 metres. The western side is heavily overgrown, which complicates measurement but has arguably also sheltered that portion from further damage. McGuinness noted that the westward view, where the land drops away most sharply, would be considerable if the vegetation were cleared.