What makes this particular site quietly compelling is not what survives but the layers of damage it has absorbed: road construction, centuries of ploughing, demolition rubble, and gravel extraction have all taken their toll, leaving only fragments of something that was once substantial.

A geophysical survey carried out in December 2020 by John Nicholls of Target Geophysics first revealed the presence of the enclosure, and this was followed in 2021 by test trenching directed by Muireann Ní Cheallacháin of IAC Archaeology. One hundred and forty-eight trenches were opened across the site, covering 6,820 linear metres in total. What emerged was the outline of a rectangular ditched enclosure with a possible original interior diameter of around 75 metres by 65 metres, along with partial remains of an annex to its south. The enclosure ditch itself ranged from 2.3 to 4 metres wide, though it survived to a depth of only 0.7 to 1 metre, suggesting significant truncation by agricultural activity over time. A distribution road had removed roughly half of the western arm of the ditch and around 40 per cent of the enclosure's interior, while the entire eastern extent of the ditch had been destroyed by the same construction. A pit of post-medieval rubble, possibly associated with the demolition of Downshire House, added yet another chapter of disturbance to the record.

Despite the damage, the finds recovered from the ditches and internal features are suggestive. Fragments of a lignite or jet bracelet, flint lithics, stone tools, metalworking waste from iron and possibly non-ferrous metals, kiln or furnace furniture, and what may be a crucible fragment were all recovered. The combination of metalworking evidence, the form of the enclosure and its annex, and the bracelet fragment points towards an early medieval date, though the site's condition means that interpretation remains tentative. What can be said is that something was made here, people lived within this enclosure, and successive centuries did their considerable best to erase it.