A souterrain, from the French for "underground passage", is a type of man-made tunnel or chamber constructed during the early medieval period in Ireland, typically associated with nearby ringforts or settlement sites. They were built from dry-stone walling and roofed with large lintels, and served most likely as places of refuge, cool storage, or concealment. The one at Lissataggle is known to exist as a catalogued monument, but detailed information about its form, dimensions, or condition has yet to be made publicly available.

Without accessible records, the specifics of this particular souterrain remain elusive. What can be said is that Kerry contains a significant concentration of such structures, often tucked into the landscape alongside the earthen banks of ringforts, those circular enclosures that were the dominant form of rural settlement in early Christian Ireland, roughly between the sixth and twelfth centuries. The county's geology and its long history of small-scale farming have together helped preserve many of these features, sometimes hidden just below the surface of a field that has been in near-continuous agricultural use for over a thousand years. Lissataggle itself is a townland name, and the presence of a listed souterrain suggests this quiet corner of Kerry was once a place of settled, organised habitation.