In the north-eastern section of the enclosing wall, the line of the masonry bends in a way that does not follow the logic of a straightforward rectangular plot. To archaeologists, that irregularity is a quiet signal, suggesting that the current boundary may be following the ghost of a much older one, an early ecclesiastical enclosure of the kind that once defined the sacred space around early Christian foundations across Ireland.

The church, recorded in the Sites and Monuments Record as DU026-020001-, sits at the summit of a south-facing slope, a position typical of early religious sites where elevated ground carried both practical and symbolic value. The possibility of a preceding enclosure was noted by antiquarian W. F. Wakeman, who wrote about the site in publications from 1891 and 1900, and the observation was returned to by Turner in 1983. Early ecclesiastical enclosures, often roughly circular or oval in shape, were the defining boundaries of early medieval monastic and church settlements in Ireland; when later, more formal walls were built, they sometimes followed or partially absorbed those earlier outlines, preserving the curve in the process. The research underpinning the current record was compiled by Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy.

Kiltiernan is reachable from the main road running through the village, and the graveyard sits above the surrounding landscape in a way that becomes clearer once you have climbed towards it. The south-facing aspect means the site catches the light well for much of the day. Once there, it is worth walking the perimeter of the boundary wall rather than heading straight for the church ruin, precisely because the north-eastern section is where the anomaly lies. It is a subtle thing, easy to walk past without registering, but once you know what you are looking for, the gentle deviation from a straight line becomes surprisingly legible as a trace of something much older beneath the surface of the present site.