The fosse, the term for the external ditch that typically accompanies a ringfort, has been pressed into service as a field drain, carrying water away from the surrounding pasture. It is a small detail, but it says something about how these monuments survive: not always through deliberate preservation, but through continued usefulness.

Ringforts, also called raths, were the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically enclosing a family farmstead within a raised earthen bank and accompanying ditch. The example at Gardenfield is circular, with a diameter of thirty-five metres, which falls within the typical range for single-family enclosures of this type. The earthen bank survives to an internal height of just over a metre and an external height of approximately 1.15 metres, with the external fosse measuring two metres wide and 0.4 metres deep. A cattle gap, one metre wide, has been cut into the bank at the north-north-west, suggesting the enclosure has been integrated into the working farm at some point in its post-medieval life. The site was recorded by Denis Power and uploaded to the national record in August 2011.

The ringfort sits in level rough pasture, and the interior is heavily overgrown with briars, which makes close inspection difficult. The earthen bank is visible from the field edge and gives a reasonable impression of the original circuit, though the vegetation inside obscures the ground surface entirely. The cattle gap in the north-north-west section of the bank is the most legible feature from ground level, and the eastern stretch of the fosse, where it functions as a drain, can be traced without difficulty. As with many such sites in agricultural land, access depends on the goodwill of the landowner, and visitors should seek permission before approaching.