The example at Ballinvrokig in West Cork is modest in size but quietly arresting: set on a south-facing slope in open pasture, its circular interior was at some point deliberately planted with deciduous trees. Those trees are long gone, but their stumps remain, giving the enclosure an oddly domesticated air that sits uneasily alongside its ancient earthwork.

A rath, as this type of ringfort is known when defined primarily by an earthen bank rather than stone walling, typically dates from the early medieval period, roughly 500 to 1000 AD, though many remained in use or were reoccupied at later dates. This one measures approximately 31 metres on its northeast to southwest axis and 33 metres northwest to southeast, making it a fairly standard domestic enclosure of the kind that would once have sheltered a farming family, their livestock, and their outbuildings. The surrounding bank still stands to a height of around 1.8 metres along its northern arc, and is stone-faced in parts, suggesting some deliberate reinforcement or repair at some stage in its history. Whether the tree planting came centuries after the fort's original use, perhaps as a form of shelter belt or simply an agricultural convenience, is not recorded.