This rectangular earthwork, measuring 33 metres east to west and 22 metres north to south, sits on a gentle south-facing slope where centuries of agricultural activity have softened but not erased its distinctive features. The site is most clearly defined along its northern edge, where a broad, flat-topped bank rises nearly a metre above the interior and 1.7 metres above the surrounding field, its overall width spanning just over 7 metres.

The defensive fosse, or water-filled ditch, that once protected this site remains visible along the western and northern sides, where it measures nearly 6 metres across and plunges 1.5 metres deep, now defined on its outer edge by the modern field boundary. Curiously, this defensive ditch doesn’t continue around the entire perimeter; the eastern and southern sides have been levelled out over time, leaving only a shallow depression along the south side where the fosse once ran. A scarp about 3 metres wide and half a metre high marks the western boundary, whilst the eastern and southern edges have been significantly altered by later agricultural improvements.

Today, the interior of this ancient stronghold presents a level, if somewhat uneven surface, largely claimed by nettles that thrive in the disturbed ground. These moated sites, which proliferated across Ireland during the Anglo-Norman period, typically served as fortified farmsteads for settlers who needed protection whilst establishing agricultural operations in newly colonised territories. The Rathordan example, documented by Jean Farrelly in August 2011, represents one of many such sites scattered across the Tipperary landscape, each one a reminder of the complex patterns of settlement and defence that shaped medieval Ireland.