First recorded on the 1838 Ordnance Survey map as a rectangular enclosure measuring roughly 35 metres north-northeast to south-southwest and 25 metres west-northwest to east-southeast, this earthwork has witnessed nearly two centuries of gradual erosion and agricultural change. By the time surveyors returned in 1944-45, only the western boundaries remained clearly visible, with a field boundary cutting across what had once been the eastern section.

When archaeologists from University College Galway inspected the site in July 1984, they found precious little remaining of the original structure. On the western side of the modern field boundary, a slight scarp barely 30 centimetres high and a shallow fosse, or defensive ditch, about 3 metres wide and 20 centimetres deep, could still be traced running from southwest to northwest. The eastern portion had fallen victim to more recent farming activities; a silage pit and shed had obliterated any surface features that might have survived. Though aerial imagery shows the shed has since been removed, the damage to the archaeological remains appears permanent.

The site’s rectangular shape and the presence of a surrounding ditch suggest it may have been a moated site, a type of medieval homestead typically dating from the 13th to 14th centuries. These earthworks, common throughout Ireland, were usually constructed by Anglo-Norman settlers or wealthy Gaelic families as defended farmsteads rather than true military fortifications. The moat, often water-filled, would have provided both drainage and a degree of protection for the timber or stone buildings that once stood within the enclosure.