This roughly square enclosure, measuring about 40 metres on each side, sits within a slight fold on the northwest-facing slope of a small ridge. While it might appear as little more than a grass and scrub-covered field to the casual observer, closer inspection reveals the defensive earthworks that once protected whatever stood within; flat-bottomed moats, still visible on the eastern, southern and northern sides, measure between 3.5 and 5 metres wide and reach depths of about a metre.

The site’s evolution can be traced through historical maps, offering glimpses of how time has altered its appearance. The 1839 Ordnance Survey six-inch map shows it as a complete rectangular embanked or moated enclosure, extending approximately 65 metres northeast to southwest and 60 metres northwest to southeast. By the time of the 1924 edition, however, only the southeastern moat remained clearly visible, stretching about 50 metres in length. Today, whilst the western moat and the western ends of the north and south moats have been backfilled, their ghostly outlines can still be detected through variations in the vegetation that grows above them.

These moated sites, common throughout medieval Ireland, typically date from the 13th to 14th centuries and were often associated with Anglo-Norman settlement. They served as defended homesteads for colonists, providing both practical protection and a symbol of authority in the landscape. The Ballyeland example, recorded in Barry’s 1977 survey as WX 12, represents one of many such sites scattered across County Wexford, each offering tangible connections to the complex patterns of medieval settlement and land use that shaped the Irish countryside.