This nearly square earthwork measures 50 metres east to west and 49 metres north to south, its boundaries marked by two earthen banks with a defensive ditch, or fosse, running between them. The outer bank remains visible along the western and northern sides, whilst a five-metre-wide causeway on the southern edge would have served as the original entrance to the enclosure.

Moated sites like this one were typically constructed during the Anglo-Norman period in Ireland, from the late 12th to the 14th centuries. They served as fortified homesteads for colonising families, offering both defence and a statement of authority over the surrounding landscape. The water-filled moat would have provided protection from raiders whilst the raised platform inside likely supported timber buildings; perhaps a hall, domestic structures and agricultural stores.

When archaeologists from University College Galway surveyed the site in September 1983, they found the fosse largely defined by trees and bushes, with overgrowth covering the banks from the northwest to northeast corners. Recent aerial imagery shows this vegetation has since been cleared, making the monument’s impressive earthworks more visible. Despite centuries of weathering and agricultural activity in the surrounding fields, the Cappacur moated site remains one of Galway’s better-preserved examples of these distinctive medieval settlements.