The site, marked on historical Ordnance Survey maps from 1908, consists of an earthen enclosure measuring approximately 75 metres from southwest to north. Today, visitors can still trace the surviving earthen bank, which stands about half a metre high on the interior side with a width of roughly 1.8 metres.

The enclosure once protected a castle that stood in the northern section of the interior. Known locally as Rathpiper, this fortification was associated with the Pipard family, descendants of Adam de Hereford, one of the Norman knights who arrived in Ireland during the 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion. The castle remained standing, albeit in ruins, until 1836, when it was finally demolished. Historical records from Carrigan's writings in 1905 help piece together the story of this once-important defensive structure.

Archaeological surveys have identified this site as a ringwork castle, a type of fortification favoured by the Normans in the decades following their arrival in Ireland. These circular or oval defensive earthworks, topped with timber palisades and containing wooden buildings, were quicker to construct than stone castles and served as important administrative and military centres during the early stages of Norman settlement. The Rathpiper site represents one of many such fortifications that once dotted the Irish landscape, marking the profound changes that swept across medieval Ireland.