It is, in fact, a well-preserved rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, a type of enclosed farmstead built and occupied primarily during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. Thousands of these monuments survive across Ireland, yet this one is notable for the layering of its defences: not one bank and ditch, but three concentric banks with two intervening fosses, or ditches, between them.

The earthwork measures approximately 22.5 metres in diameter and retains much of its original form, particularly along the arc running from the north, through the east and south, and around to the west. A clearly defined entrance gap, some six metres wide, opens to the east, which is a common orientation for ringforts, possibly reflecting practical concerns about morning light or prevailing wind, though the precise reasoning varied by site and circumstance. The triple-bank arrangement suggests this was no ordinary farmstead enclosure. Multiple banks were typically associated with sites of higher social status in early Irish society, where the elaboration of earthworks served as much as a statement of rank as a means of physical protection for livestock and household.