The site forms a roughly square enclosure measuring about 30 metres north to south and 32 metres east to west, with the defensive banks reaching heights of just over a metre in places. The original entrance, four metres wide, opens to the northeast corner of the enclosure, whilst faint traces of what may have been a defensive ditch or fosse can still be detected along the western and northeastern sides.

These moated sites were typically built between the 13th and 14th centuries by Anglo-Norman settlers and wealthy Irish families who adopted Norman building practices. They served as fortified farmsteads rather than true castles, providing a degree of security for agricultural communities during uncertain times. The earthen banks would have originally been steeper and likely topped with a wooden palisade, whilst the moat or fosse would have been filled with water where the local drainage allowed, creating an effective barrier against raiders and livestock thieves.

An interesting feature of this particular site is the presence of a small drainage channel running along the inside of the southern bank; measuring two metres long, one metre wide and half a metre deep. This practical addition suggests the site’s occupants were dealing with water management issues, perhaps channelling excess rainwater away from the living areas within the enclosure. Today the site lies quietly in pastureland, its grassy banks the only reminder of the medieval farmstead that once stood here, part of the complex pattern of Norman and Gaelic settlement that shaped the Cork countryside.