It was not surveyed into the historical record through the usual means of cartographers walking the land; instead, it came to light through aerial photography, the slight but telling shadow of a levelled scarp revealing itself from above in a way it simply refuses to do from ground level.

The enclosure measures roughly 27 to 30 metres in diameter. What remains is described as ephemeral, the faintest outline of an earthwork whose original raised edge has long since been flattened, its north-western arc further disturbed by a farm track running on a north-east to south-west axis. A circular earthen enclosure of this kind, defined by a bank or scarp around a central area, would typically have served as a farmstead or defended settlement, though without excavation it is impossible to say more about its age or precise function. What gives the site an additional layer of interest is its company: another enclosure sits just 80 metres to the north, and two more lie roughly 180 and 190 metres to the south and south-south-west. This cluster suggests the area around Tooreen was once a good deal more inhabited and organised than its quiet pastures now imply.

Because the enclosure is largely invisible at ground level, there is little for the eye to catch without knowing exactly where to look and what to look for. The farm track that clips its north-western edge is perhaps the most tangible sign that something older lies beneath the ordinary rhythms of agricultural life here.