The enclosure measures roughly 18 metres east to west and 14 metres north to south, its interior defined by an earthen bank that still rises about 1.1 metres above the ground inside, and 1.5 metres when measured from the outside. That difference in height is typical of how such enclosures were constructed, the builders piling excavated material outward to create a more imposing outer face.

Earthen enclosures of this type are scattered across the Irish countryside and are generally associated with the early medieval period, roughly the sixth to the twelfth centuries, though some examples are older. They functioned variously as farmsteads, enclosures for livestock, or focal points for small communities, and the choice of a slight rise in the landscape was deliberate, offering both drainage and a degree of visibility. The bank at Corbally survives best on its eastern side, which suggests that the western and northern portions have suffered more from the slow pressures of agricultural activity over the centuries. There is a break in the bank to the north, which may represent an original entrance or a later breach, and cattle gaps have opened at numerous other points around the circuit, a reminder that the land has been in continuous use as pasture long after whatever human purpose the enclosure once served had been forgotten.