First identified during fieldwork for the Limerick Southern Ring Road in 1998, the site was initially investigated by Fiona Rooney, who uncovered a substantial ditch measuring 3.5 metres wide and 1.4 metres deep. A full excavation followed in 1999 under the direction of Tony Cummins, exposing a subcircular enclosure approximately 35 metres in diameter, strategically positioned on the edge of a terrace overlooking a bend in the River Groody.

The enclosure was defended by a formidable ditch, averaging 4 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep, with a causewayed entrance on its northern side. Whilst the western side lacked a ditch, relying instead on the natural defence provided by the riverside terrace edge, evidence suggests the site was once protected by a substantial earthen bank that has since been levelled by centuries of agricultural activity. Within the enclosure, archaeologists discovered the foundation slot trenches of two circular timber huts near the centre, with the larger measuring 7.8 metres in diameter and featuring a cobbled entrance surface. Additional structures were identified outside the main enclosure, including another circular hut and a keyhole-shaped corn-drying kiln, indicating this was more than just a defensive position.

The artefacts recovered paint a picture of a self-sufficient medieval farmstead whose inhabitants engaged in ironworking, grain processing, and trade. Finds included both locally produced and imported medieval pottery, with Saintonge ware from France dating the occupation to AD 1250–1350, alongside practical items such as a quernstone fragment and stone mortar. The presence of ironworking pits and a corn-drying kiln suggests the occupants were processing their own grain and manufacturing iron tools on site. The enclosure’s proximity to a contemporary 14th-century church, still used as a graveyard today, hints at the interconnected nature of medieval settlement in this area, where defended farmsteads and religious sites formed part of the broader Anglo-Norman landscape of County Limerick.