This medieval earthwork takes the form of a rectangular enclosure measuring approximately 28.5 metres from northwest to southeast and 22.5 metres from northeast to southwest. The site’s defensive features consist of an earthen bank with an external fosse, or ditch, running around the perimeter; archaeologists have identified what appears to be an entrance on the southeastern side.

Moated sites like this one were typically constructed during the Anglo-Norman period in Ireland, from the late 12th century onwards. They served as fortified homesteads for settlers who needed protection whilst establishing agricultural estates in newly conquered territories. The combination of bank and ditch would have provided both defence and drainage, whilst the rectangular layout is characteristic of these planned settlements rather than the circular forms more common in earlier Irish ringforts.

Today, the Ballybeg site is no longer visible at ground level, its earthworks having been levelled or obscured over the centuries. The information about its existence and layout comes from archaeological surveys and historical records, with researcher T. Barry contributing to our understanding of the site’s features. Like many such sites across Wicklow and Ireland, it represents a hidden layer of medieval history lying beneath the modern landscape, marking where communities once lived, farmed, and defended their holdings during a transformative period in Irish history.