Roughly circular, it measures just under 58 metres north to south and 56 metres east to west, and the earthen and stone bank that encloses it is no modest boundary. The bank reaches 2.45 metres on its external face, and its base spreads to 9 metres wide, giving it a bulk that still reads clearly in the landscape after more than a thousand years. A U-shaped fosse, the outer ditch that was dug to reinforce the bank's defensive effect, runs around the circuit and adds further definition to the whole.

Ringforts, sometimes called raths, were the most common form of enclosed settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically dating from roughly the sixth to the twelfth century. They served as farmsteads for a single family or small community, with the bank and ditch providing a degree of security for livestock and inhabitants alike. The Ballymacadam example is notably well-preserved: stone protrudes through the grass-covered bank in places, giving it a rougher, more structural appearance than turf-only examples, and both the internal and external profiles remain steep and distinct. The southeast quadrant retains what appears to be a causeway roughly 6.8 metres wide across the fosse, suggesting this was the original entrance point. A narrow gap on the same side may represent a former gateway, though accumulated bank material has reduced it considerably. A gap in the northwest is more likely the work of cattle than of any historical feature. Some 260 metres to the southwest, at the foot of the hill, lies an early church site, and a separate enclosure sits just 20 metres to the southeast, making this a cluster of early medieval activity rather than an isolated monument. A later stone wall runs north to south just 7 metres east of the fort, close enough to hint at continued land use in the area long after the ringfort itself fell out of occupation.