The oval-shaped raised area, measuring 25 metres east to west and 18 metres north to south, rises three metres above the surrounding landscape. Its roughly coursed mortared walls, which survive to about a metre in height and span one and a half metres thick, curve from east through south to west, whilst a natural scarp provides defence elsewhere.

The site’s formidable defences include a waterlogged outer fosse, or defensive ditch, that runs three to four metres wide around the perimeter, complemented by an external bank measuring two metres wide and rising to one and a half metres high on the eastern and western sides. The ravines themselves serve as natural barriers to the north and south, eliminating the need for artificial defences in these directions. Particularly interesting is the surviving drystone wall-facing visible on the inner face of the western outer bank, offering a glimpse into the site’s construction techniques.

Archaeological evidence suggests this highly defensive position may have originated as an early medieval earthwork, later adapted and reinforced as a seventeenth-century artillery fortification; a transformation that speaks to its enduring strategic value. The site’s military significance is further evidenced by its consistent designation as ‘Battery’ on all editions of the Ordnance Survey 6-inch maps. Located near a ringfort to the south, this fortification forms part of a broader defensive landscape that has shaped the Borrisnafarney area for over a millennium.