It leaves no mark on the surface, casts no shadow, and has never been excavated. What gives it away is the crop growing above it: in the right conditions, differences in soil moisture and nutrient levels cause plants to grow fractionally taller or greener over a buried ditch than over undisturbed ground, producing what archaeologists call positive cropmarks. That is exactly what appeared in satellite imagery captured over Balheary on 24 June 2018, when Google Earth coverage revealed a subsurface ditch tracing out a near-circular enclosure in an otherwise unremarkable arable field.

The enclosure, recorded and compiled by archaeologist Tom Condit and uploaded to the national record in October 2020, measures roughly 35 metres north to south and 32.5 metres east to west, making it subcircular in plan. The ditch itself appears to be approximately 1.6 metres wide. Circular or subcircular enclosures of this kind are common across Ireland and are often associated with early medieval settlement, though without excavation it is impossible to assign a firm date or function to this particular example. What is notable is the absence of any clear entrance gap through the ditch, which might otherwise help interpret how the space was used or accessed. A second cropmark enclosure lies roughly 300 metres to the west-northwest, suggesting this stretch of land near the Broadmeadow River may have seen more organised activity in the past than its flat, featureless appearance now implies.

The site sits approximately 640 metres north of the Broadmeadow River, in level terrain with restricted views in all directions. There is nothing to see on the ground. The enclosure is entirely subsurface, buried beneath whatever crop happens to be growing that season. The most practical way to engage with it is through the Google Earth imagery from June 2018, where the cropmarks are clearly visible if you know what to look for. For those interested in the broader landscape, the proximity of a second enclosure to the west suggests it is worth scanning that area of the same imagery too.