The trees follow the curve of a rath, 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. These enclosures were once so common across Ireland that tens of thousands are thought to have existed; many have since been ploughed out or built over, which makes even a modest survivor worth pausing over.

This particular rath sits on a gentle south-facing slope and is nearly circular in plan, measuring about 20.7 metres east to west and 20 metres north to south. It is defined by an earthen bank that rises to roughly 0.85 metres on the interior and a little more, around 1.15 metres, on the exterior face. To the east, a shallow external fosse, essentially a ditch dug to provide material for the bank and to add a further line of definition to the enclosure, still survives to a depth of about 0.25 metres. The field fences that once surrounded the site have been removed, which leaves the rath relatively exposed in its pasture setting, the beech trees on the bank now serving as the most visible marker of where the boundary runs.