The site exists, in practical terms, only as a set of marks on an aerial photograph taken in April 1974 by the Geological Survey of Ireland. What the photograph reveals, across gently undulating ground that is part grass and part tillage, is a curving field boundary, possibly connected to a nearby road. At ground level, there is nothing to indicate that anything of archaeological interest lies beneath your feet.

The identification of field systems from the air is a well-established technique in archaeology. Buried or levelled features, including old walls, ditches, and boundaries, can alter the way soil retains moisture or the way crops grow above them, producing variations in colour or height that only become legible when viewed from above. A curving boundary of the kind recorded here is often associated with early medieval or prehistoric land organisation, though without excavation it is impossible to say with any certainty what period the Ballygorteen boundary belongs to, or how extensive the system may once have been. The possible association with an adjacent road adds a layer of interest, suggesting the boundary may have been part of a more organised landscape than what survives today.