Step through it, however, and the contrast is immediate. The interior is so heavily overgrown that moving through it with any ease is close to impossible, the rubblestone enclosure wall crumbling in several places, particularly along the northern boundary.

A survey carried out by Laurence Dunne in 2012 recorded twenty-five tombs within the graveyard, many of them in poor, dilapidated, or collapsed condition. Dunne described the site as entirely neglected, the result of a sustained absence of basic maintenance. The enclosure itself, built in the dry rubblestone tradition common to Kerry, has suffered accordingly, its walls consumed by vegetation and sagging where foundations have shifted. The tombs, whatever their original form or inscription, are now largely obscured beneath the growth.

For anyone making their way to Kilbannivane, the gate remains the clearest point of orientation, though the difficulty of moving through the interior, noted over a decade ago, is unlikely to have improved with time. The northern wall in particular was identified as the most deteriorated section of the boundary, and the dense overgrowth throughout makes close inspection of individual monuments a slow and careful business.