What gives it a slightly disorienting quality is the way a lane cuts through its western side, dividing the enclosure as though ordinary rural life simply grew around it without much ceremony. The banks to the east rise to about three metres, those to the west a little lower at two and a half, while the scarps to the north and south reach between three and three and a half metres. The interior is saucer-shaped, dipping inward in the manner typical of raths, the Irish term for earthen ringforts, and is now heavily overgrown.

Ringforts of this kind are among the most common archaeological monuments in Ireland, built predominantly during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and used as enclosed farmsteads by individual family groups. The earthen banks served as a boundary and a degree of protection for livestock and household. What makes the Minanes example more than a simple enclosure is the presence of a souterrain in its interior. A souterrain is an underground passage or chamber, typically stone-lined, associated with storage, refuge, or both, and their appearance within ringforts is reasonably common across Munster. The site commands open views to the south, east, and west, which would have made it a practical choice for settlement, offering both surveillance of the surrounding land and reasonable drainage on a sloped pasture.