Spread across undulating reclaimed pasture, a series of earthen banks, ditches, and low mounds breaks the surface in ways that do not quite match the logic of modern agriculture. The question of what, exactly, these earthworks represent has not been definitively answered, which is part of what makes the site worth knowing about.

The features at Knockanea sit to the east of a small tributary of the Groody River, with two ringforts located roughly 115 metres and 150 metres further east. Ringforts, for those unfamiliar with the term, are circular enclosures defined by earthen banks or stone walls, typically associated with early medieval farming settlements in Ireland, dating broadly from around 500 to 1000 AD. When the nearby ringforts were inspected in 2005, the survey recorded several earthen banks, fosses (that is, defensive or boundary ditches), and mounds visible across two fields. Aerial analysis using Digital Globe orthoimagery taken between 2005 and 2012 revealed numerous additional earthworks in the surrounding area. The difficulty, as the record compiled by Fiona Rooney makes clear, is in separating two different layers of activity: some of these features are likely drainage channels connected to later land reclamation, while others may represent a relict field system, one that functioned in tandem with the adjacent ringfort settlement. The two possibilities are not mutually exclusive, and the landscape may carry evidence of both.

The site is not formally managed or signposted, and access would depend on landowner permission, as the earthworks sit within working agricultural fields. Visitors interested in early medieval landscapes in this part of Limerick would benefit from consulting the National Monuments Service record beforehand, which includes orthoimage references and the associated ringfort entries. The earthworks are subtle and require some patience to read; low-angle light in the early morning or late afternoon tends to bring out the shallow relief of banks and fosses far more clearly than midday sun. The proximity of the two ringforts means there is a broader landscape to consider rather than a single isolated feature, and walking the area with that spatial relationship in mind gives the whole site considerably more coherence.