First spotted from the air by a surveyor named Swan, what appeared from ground level to be just two disconnected segments of ancient earthwork turned out to be something far more substantial. Aerial photographs revealed these banks were actually connected by a very low earthwork, together forming an enormous oval enclosure that once stretched roughly 200 metres from northwest to southeast. The surviving sections of the bank are impressive in their own right; flat-topped earthworks rising up to 1.7 metres high and spreading about 12 metres wide, though curiously there’s no sign of the defensive ditch you’d typically expect with such fortifications.

The interior of this ancient enclosure has a distinctive dome shape, and intensive cultivation over the centuries has left its mark on the landscape. A modern field fence now runs east to west right through the centre of the monument, but even this later addition tells an interesting story; it takes a notable bend around a circular depression within the enclosure, perhaps respecting some ancient feature still visible when the fence was built. Back in 1957, archaeologist Hartnett identified what he believed to be two circular house sites, each about 6 metres across, within what he interpreted as a ringfort incorporated into the northern section of the earthwork.

This monument has been recognised as nationally significant since 1976, when it was placed under a preservation order. While it might not look like much from the roadside, just two weathered banks partially absorbed into the field boundaries, this hillfort represents an important piece of Ireland’s archaeological heritage, offering tantalising glimpses of how our ancestors organised and defended their communities on these exposed ridges over two millennia ago.