This rectangular earthwork measures approximately 45 metres from northeast to southwest and 41 metres from northwest to southeast. The site is defined by a series of defensive features: a low earthen bank runs along the northern half of the northeastern side, whilst the southeastern edge drops away in a scarp about 2 metres high. The southwestern side features a more substantial earthen bank, standing 1.3 metres high on the interior and 1.5 metres on the exterior, though the northwestern side has been levelled over time. The stream itself acts as a natural fosse, or defensive ditch, along the northeastern and southeastern sides.

The interior of the site remains relatively level, with the ground rising slightly towards the eastern and southern corners. When the antiquarian Bowman surveyed the site in 1934, he recorded it as a single-ramparted square fort with each side measuring roughly 50 yards, noting it was located on Mr Dennehy’s land. This type of fortified site, commonly known as a moated site, typically dates to the Anglo-Norman period in Ireland, roughly from the late 12th to the 14th centuries.

These earthwork enclosures served as defended homesteads for Anglo-Norman settlers and Gaelicised lords during the medieval period. The combination of earthen banks, natural water defences, and strategic positioning on level ground near a water source represents typical defensive planning of the era. Whilst much of the original structure has been weathered by centuries of agricultural use and natural erosion, the site remains a tangible link to Cork’s medieval landscape and the patterns of settlement that shaped the county during this transformative period of Irish history.