The site occupies a commanding defensive position between two valleys, with precipitous slopes falling away to the east, south and west. From this elevated vantage point, the medieval defenders would have enjoyed unobstructed views across the surrounding countryside in every direction, making it nearly impossible for any approaching force to advance unseen.

The monument consists of a raised circular platform measuring 33 metres across, surrounded by an impressive earthen bank that rises one metre on the interior side but towers over four metres high when viewed from outside. The bank itself spans two metres across at its crest and spreads to between six and eight metres at its base. Beyond this formidable earthwork lies a defensive ditch, or fosse, measuring 3.7 metres wide and 1.3 metres deep. Faint traces of what might be an outer bank can still be detected; standing 0.4 metres high and 1.5 metres wide, though this feature may simply be the remnant of an old field boundary rather than part of the original defensive scheme.

The location and construction of this earthwork strongly suggest it functioned as a ringwork rather than a traditional Irish ringfort. Ringworks were a type of fortification introduced by the Anglo-Normans in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, typically consisting of a raised circular or oval platform defended by a bank and ditch. Unlike the earlier Irish ringforts which primarily served as defended farmsteads, ringworks were military strongholds, often supporting a timber palisade along the bank’s summit and containing wooden buildings within. This particular example at Ballyfoyle, with its strategic hilltop position and substantial defensive features, represents an important piece of medieval military architecture in the Kilkenny landscape.