When the Ordnance Survey mapped this area in 1842, their cartographers recorded a rectangular enclosure measuring roughly 40 metres north to south and 20 metres east to west, depicted with the distinctive hachured lines used to indicate earthwork features. Though the site has since been levelled and shows no visible surface trace today, it once formed part of the defensive landscape of medieval Cork.

Archaeological investigations have revealed intriguing details about this lost monument. Writing in 1939, researcher Hartnett documented that the outline of the moated site could still be traced at that time, giving somewhat larger dimensions of approximately 50 by 30 yards. He also noted the presence of a spring well just outside the line of the northern rampart; a practical water source that would have been essential for any medieval settlement. The strategic placement of such wells was common in moated sites across Ireland, providing both drinking water and a potential supply for filling the defensive moat itself.

Adding to the site’s archaeological complexity, a fulacht fiadh has been identified in the northern portion of the enclosure. These ancient cooking sites, characterised by their horseshoe-shaped mounds of heat-shattered stones and troughs, typically date from the Bronze Age; significantly earlier than the medieval moated site. This layering of different periods of human activity demonstrates the long continuity of settlement in this part of Cork, where generations have chosen the same spots to live, work, and defend their communities across thousands of years.