On one arc, an earthen bank rises to nearly two metres; on the other, a much lower bank, less than a metre high, has been reinforced or capped with a stone wall. The result is a ringfort, or rath, that tells two stories at once, one in soil and one in stone, running around the same roughly circular space.

Ringforts are among the most common archaeological monuments in Ireland, built predominantly during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and typically serving as enclosed farmsteads for single family units or small communities. Most consist of a raised earthen bank with a corresponding external ditch, called a fosse, dug to provide the material for the bank and to add a further obstacle to anyone approaching. The example at Ballymacshoneen follows that basic logic: a fosse survives to the south-southwest, around 0.8 metres deep, complementing the higher earthen bank that runs from the northwest around to the east-southeast. What sets it apart is the secondary construction on the opposite arc, where the lower bank has been given a stone wall along its top, suggesting either a repair, a later modification, or simply a different building approach applied to different sections of the same enclosure. The interior measures approximately 31 metres across in both axes, making it a reasonably typical size for a single-family rath. It sits in nearly level pasture that rises gently towards the west-northwest, a setting that would have offered modest visibility over the surrounding land without requiring any dramatic hilltop position.