Ringforts, sometimes called raths, were the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically consisting of a circular bank and ditch enclosing a family farmstead. Here, though, the builders did something slightly different: they dug their ditch not around flat ground but around a natural mound of loose glacial gravel, using the existing topography to amplify the enclosure's presence. The ditch itself was circular, measuring 36 metres across, and the entrance, 2.5 metres wide and a metre deep, faced northwest onto the dryland side, away from the low-lying flood plain that stretched towards the River Shannon less than a kilometre to the east.

The site came to light during archaeological work tied to the Southern Limerick Ring Road, Phase II, and was excavated as part of that infrastructure project, with findings later published by Bermingham and colleagues in 2013. Inside the enclosure, excavators uncovered the remains of a rectangular post-built structure measuring roughly 4 metres by 1.6 metres, most likely one of several domestic buildings that would have stood here during the site's active life. The ditch itself yielded two penannular ring-brooches, a type of open-ended metal clasp common in early medieval Ireland, dating to the 6th and 7th centuries AD. Outside the fort, the picture became more industrial. Pits to the west showed signs of intense burning, and one contained a small crucible fragment, pointing to metalworking on or near the site. Iron slag recovered from across the enclosure reinforces that evidence, suggesting smithing was a regular activity here. A pit to the east held animal bone and a pin-sharpening stone, and a stone causeway was recorded just 60 metres to the south, likely providing a dry crossing across the adjacent flood plain. Smaller curvilinear ditches on the western side of the mound indicate the enclosure was remodelled at least once during its use.

The site sits at the eastern end of a glacial ridge in Coonagh West, on the northwestern fringes of Limerick city. Because the ringfort was excavated as part of a road scheme, the physical remains are no longer accessible in the conventional sense; the landscape has since been altered by construction. What endures is the excavation record and the finds, which offer an unusually detailed picture of early medieval life on a strategically placed ridge above a Shannon flood plain. Researchers and those tracing the archaeology of the Ring Road corridor will find the published reports the most rewarding way into this site's history.