This is a rath, a type of ringfort consisting of a roughly circular area enclosed by an earthen bank and an outer ditch, known as a fosse. Such enclosures were typically the homesteads of farming families during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and tens of thousands of them once dotted the Irish landscape.

This particular example encloses a circular area measuring 29 metres on its north to south axis. The earthen bank survives to an internal height of around 0.8 metres and an external height of 0.4 metres along its southern to east-south-eastern arc, where it is at its most pronounced. The outer fosse reaches a maximum depth of 1.8 metres along the same stretch, running around to the north-west. To the west, both bank and fosse become noticeably lower and shallower, suggesting some degree of erosion or disturbance over the centuries. The bank itself has been colonised by trees and bushes, which give it a slightly overgrown, almost incidental appearance from a distance. A second ringfort lies approximately 80 metres to the north-west, a reminder that such sites often occur in loose clusters, reflecting the density of early settlement across the better agricultural land of north Cork.