What was originally a circular rath, clearly legible as such on the Ordnance Survey's six-inch map of 1838, had by the 1920 edition been cut through along its eastern boundary by a north-south road, reducing it to a D-shape. The remaining arc of earthwork, running from south-south-east around to north-north-east, is still present as a low bank and scarp, rising to roughly 1.9 metres on its exterior at the north-west, though much of it has been worn down considerably. A small stream curves around the base of the rise to the south-west, and the site sits just high enough above the surrounding rough, rocky pasture to suggest that whoever chose this location knew what they were doing.

A rath, or ringfort, is an enclosed farmstead of the early medieval period, typically defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches, and they occur across Ireland in their thousands. What makes the Cranmore example worth closer attention is partly what survives and partly what surrounds it. A short stretch of possible outer bank remains on the north-west, separated from the main enclosure by a narrow gap that may once have been a fosse, or defensive ditch. Inside, a low curving bank in the north-west quadrant hints at an internal subdivision or structure, though its original purpose is unclear. The likely entrance, which would have faced east, is now lost beneath the road. Two further raths survive nearby, one approximately 120 metres to the north-west and another about 100 metres to the north-east, suggesting this was once a cluster of enclosed settlements occupying the same stretch of elevated ground rather than an isolated homestead.

Today the interior is divided by a drystone field wall running roughly east to west. North of it, boulders and dense blackthorn make for slow going; south of it, the ground opens up to grass and ferns with only a few scattered thorns. The road that truncated the site now forms its eastern boundary, a practical reminder that early medieval archaeology and later infrastructure have rarely reached an easy accommodation.