The earthwork at Gortnanuv sits on the western slope of a low hillock amid undulating pasture, and the administrative line dividing Gortnanuv from the neighbouring townland of Glen runs directly across it, bisecting what was once a single enclosed space. The boundary observes no particular respect for whatever purpose the structure originally served, and the result is an earthwork that belongs, in a legal and cartographic sense, to two places at once.

Only the northern half of the enclosure has been positively identified as surviving earthwork. That portion was picked up during an aerial photographic survey carried out from Bruff in 1986, which recorded a semi-circular shaped area measuring approximately 17 metres northeast to southwest and 12 metres northwest to southeast. It is defined by a bank with an external fosse, the fosse being a ditch dug on the outside of the bank to reinforce the enclosure, running from the west through north to northeast. No corresponding earthwork is visible on the southern side of the townland boundary, suggesting either that the southern portion has been lost to agriculture or that the original structure was always less substantial there. A ringfort, a type of circular enclosed settlement common across early medieval Ireland, lies about 140 metres to the northwest, hinting at a broader pattern of activity in this part of the Limerick countryside.

The enclosure does not announce itself to a casual passer-by, and there is no formal access or signage. The site sits in working farmland, so any visit would require awareness of land ownership and the usual courtesies of the Irish countryside. For those with an interest in aerial archaeology or in how such features are detected and recorded, it is worth noting that the enclosure remains clearly visible on Google Earth imagery, including an orthoimage dated November 2018, which offers a useful way to orientate yourself before venturing into the field. The subtle rise of the bank and the curve of the surviving northern arc are what to look for once on the ground.