A rath, or ringfort, is an enclosed farmstead of the early medieval period, typically defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches, and thousands of them survive across Ireland in varying states of preservation. This one at Clara measures approximately 52 metres in overall diameter, which puts it at a reasonable size, and the wide fosse, a defensive ditch encircling the interior, is clearly depicted on the 25-inch Ordnance Survey map.

The site appears on the first edition six-inch Ordnance Survey map of 1839 and again on the 1900 revision, both of which show it as a roughly circular enclosure. Even by the time those maps were made, the monument was already compromised: a field boundary runs roughly east to west along the northern edge, effectively cutting into it. The western and north-western arc of the enclosure has been further disturbed by a small quarry that extends beyond the edge of the monument itself. By the time of the 25-inch survey, the quarrying was already visible as a distinct intrusion. Today the interior and much of the surrounding bank are heavily overgrown with scrub and trees, which makes the shape of the earthwork difficult to read on the ground. Fields to the north are under tillage, while those to the east, south, and west lie under pasture, giving the monument an agricultural context that has probably looked much the same, in broad outline, for generations.