Ringforts of this kind were the standard farmstead of Gaelic Ireland, built and occupied roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and thousands of them survive across the country in varying states of decay. This one, nearly circular and measuring just under 39 metres north to south and just over 37 metres east to west, has come through the intervening centuries in notably good condition.

The double-bank arrangement sets it apart from the more common single-banked rath. Where the outer bank has survived, the enclosure reads clearly in the landscape; from the north-east to the south-east, however, that outer element has been lost, and from the north-west around to the north-north-east the inner enclosing element survives only as a degraded scarp, a low eroded slope rather than a proper bank. The southern entrance remains well-defined, suggesting this was the principal point of access, as was common in ringfort design. Adding further complexity to the immediate area, another ringfort sits roughly 30 metres to the north-west, and a separate enclosure lies approximately 30 metres to the north-east, indicating that this part of Gardenfield was once a considerably busier place than the quiet fields now suggest.