First documented on the 1909 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, this subrectangular enclosure measures approximately 60 metres from north-northeast to south-southwest. Today, visitors can still trace portions of the defensive earthwork bank along the northeast, east and southern boundaries, though time and agriculture have taken their toll on the rest of the structure.

Moated sites like this one were typically constructed between the 13th and 14th centuries, serving as fortified homesteads for Anglo-Norman settlers and prosperous Irish families. The rectangular shape and surrounding moat; a water-filled ditch that would have been fed by local streams or springs; provided both defence and a statement of status in the medieval landscape. While the interior buildings have long since vanished, these sites often contained timber-framed halls, agricultural buildings and domestic quarters arranged around a central courtyard.

The Ballydavis site forms part of a broader network of medieval settlements scattered across the Laois countryside, each telling its own story of conquest, adaptation and daily life in medieval Ireland. Though much reduced from its original form, the surviving earthworks offer tangible evidence of how medieval communities shaped and defended their place in the Irish midlands. The site was formally recorded in the Archaeological Inventory of County Laois in 1995, ensuring its protection as part of Ireland’s rich archaeological heritage.