The rectangular earthwork at Ballinurra measures roughly 48 metres north to south and 50 metres east to west, its boundaries still clearly visible despite centuries of agricultural use. First spotted on an aerial photograph from 1973, this defensive enclosure represents a type of fortified homestead that was particularly common in Ireland during the 13th and 14th centuries.

The site’s defensive features remain remarkably intact. Three sides; north, east, and west; are defined by a scarp rising to about 0.9 metres in height. Along the eastern edge, remnants of what was once a substantial earthen bank can still be traced, originally measuring over 10 metres wide and standing about half a metre high on both its interior and exterior faces. The southern boundary tells its own story through a band of noticeably lush grass about 7 metres wide, a telltale sign that a defensive ditch or fosse once ran along this edge, its filled-in depression now creating particularly fertile ground for vegetation.

Modern farming has left its mark on the ancient earthwork, with field drains cutting north to south through the southern half of the enclosure and running along the base of the western scarp. The marshy ground immediately to the north suggests why this particular spot was chosen; the slightly elevated, better-drained land would have made an ideal location for a medieval farmstead, whilst the surrounding wetlands provided additional natural defence. These moated sites typically housed prosperous farming families, their earthen banks and water-filled ditches offering both protection and a display of status in medieval Irish society.