Set into improved pasture on a south-east-facing slope in County Tipperary, this sub-oval earthwork measures roughly 40 metres east to west and 20 metres north to south, its outline held together by the remains of an earthen bank and a fosse, which is a defensive ditch dug to reinforce a boundary. The fosse here is notably well-formed on its northern and eastern sides, sheer-walled and reaching a depth of over two metres, though it shallows considerably in the western quadrant and has been partially absorbed into a later land drain along the south-western arc. A conifer plantation now occupies the sloping interior, which tips away toward the south-south-east, giving the whole enclosure an enclosed, slightly secretive quality even at ground level.

What makes the site genuinely curious is its probable relationship to an older and larger feature nearby. The enclosure sits within the northern angle of what survives as a possible ecclesiastical enclosure, the kind of curving boundary that in early medieval Ireland typically surrounded a monastic settlement or church precinct, marking sacred ground off from the surrounding landscape. Whether the Shanakyle earthwork is contemporary with that ecclesiastical boundary, or represents a later intrusion into an already ancient space, is not resolved. Adding another layer of ambiguity is the irregular, roughly rectangular area adjoining to the south, approximately 40 metres east to west and 14 metres north to south, with its interior sloping gradually toward the south-east. This feature has been described as bailey-like, a term borrowed from the vocabulary of Norman fortification, where a bailey was the enclosed courtyard attached to a motte or keep. Whether that resemblance reflects actual Norman activity here or is simply a coincidence of earthwork form is an open question.

The site sits in ordinary farmland, and the combination of conifer planting and agricultural improvement means the earthworks are easier to read from a careful ground survey than from a casual visit. The bank, where it survives, still carries a measurable external height of just over a metre, and the well-formed fosse on the northern side remains the most legible element of the whole complex.