This kind of site, sometimes called a cliff-edge fort or promontory enclosure, works on a simple principle: why build what nature has already provided? The sheer scarp on the northeastern side, measured at roughly 2.55 metres, would have made any approach from that direction extremely difficult, while an earthen bank up to 2.2 metres high closes off the more accessible southern and western arcs of the perimeter. The whole enclosed area runs to about 41 metres on its longer axis and 22 metres across, roughly the size of a generous farmyard.

A study by Myler in 1998 noted that the earthen bank is showing the effects of time and vegetation, disturbed by tree roots and general erosion, and he also identified what may be an entrance at the eastern corner of the fort. The interior slopes downward to the southwest, which would have helped with drainage. The site sits in tillage land, meaning it has been farmed around rather than preserved in isolation, a situation common to many earthworks in agricultural Ireland where the enclosure survives but the wider context has long since been ploughed away. Earthen forts of this kind are generally associated with the early medieval period in Ireland, serving as enclosed farmsteads or high-status residences rather than purely military structures, though the deliberate use of a riverine cliff here suggests that security was at least part of the original thinking.