They occupy the interior of a rath, a type of ringfort that was once the enclosed farmstead of an early medieval family, typically dating to somewhere between the seventh and tenth centuries. Thousands of these earthworks survive across Ireland, though many have been ploughed flat or swallowed by development. This one, adjoining a farmyard on its southern side, has endured rather better than most.

The enclosing bank is roughly circular, about 38 metres in diameter, and stands to a height of around 1.1 metres. Unusually, it is stone-faced, meaning the earthen core is retained on at least one side by a facing of stone rather than being left as a simple grass-covered mound. That detail, modest as it sounds, suggests some care in the original construction. The interior planting of coniferous trees is a later addition, one of those small agricultural decisions that inadvertently preserved an ancient boundary by making the enclosed ground awkward to cultivate.