The site occupies a slightly elevated grassy platform measuring roughly 28 metres from north-northeast to south-southwest and 24 metres from west-northwest to east-southeast. What makes this feature particularly distinctive are its raised corners and the remnants of outer fosses, or defensive moats, that once encircled the platform. A causeway crossing the northern section of the eastern moat provided access to the enclosed area, suggesting this was the main entrance to whatever structures once stood here.

Located about 10 metres northwest of a small stream running southwest to northeast, the site would have been strategically positioned with access to fresh water whilst remaining on higher, drier ground. Though the physical profile of the earthworks had largely disappeared by 1995 according to the Ordnance Survey Archaeological Project, modern technology has revealed what the naked eye can no longer easily detect. Aerial imagery from Google Earth captured in May 2017 and May 2018 shows clear vegetation marks outlining the moated enclosure, whilst OSAP imagery from 2017 confirms these ghostly traces.

These moated sites, dating primarily from the 13th and 14th centuries, were typically constructed by Anglo-Norman settlers or prosperous farming families as defended homesteads. The moats served both defensive and drainage purposes, whilst the raised platform would have supported timber or stone buildings. Today, this subtle earthwork at Athgaine Great stands as a quiet reminder of medieval settlement patterns in the Irish midlands, its outlines still traceable in the changing colours and growth patterns of grass above the long-filled ditches.