To its south lies Lough Corrib, to the north Lough Mask, and the fort occupies that narrow ridge of land between them with a kind of geographical logic that still makes immediate sense.

The site is a rath, which is the Irish term for a ringfort, a type of enclosed farmstead built predominantly during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. Thousands were constructed across Ireland, their earthen banks and ditches enclosing a domestic space for a family of some local standing. This particular example measures approximately 39 metres across on its north-north-west to south-south-east axis and is defined by two concentric banks with a fosse, a ditch, running between them. The double-bank arrangement placed a site slightly above the ordinary run of single-banked raths, and may reflect the status or resources of whoever built it. The outer bank has partially collapsed, surviving only along the north-north-west to northern arc, but the inner earthworks remain in fair condition. A gap on the eastern side may represent the original entrance, orientated towards the slope and the lake views beyond. A field bank also radiates outward from the monument at the south-west, suggesting the enclosure was once integrated into a wider system of land management that has since been largely erased.