Such clusters are unusual; most circular enclosures, the remains of enclosed farmsteads or settlement sites from the early medieval period, tend to be examined in isolation, yet here a group of six has been recorded within the same area.

Circular enclosures of this kind are among the most common archaeological monument types in Ireland, typically consisting of a roughly circular bank and ditch that once defined a domestic space, separating the household and its animals from the surrounding land. They date most commonly to the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries, though some may be earlier or later in origin. What distinguishes Derrynagree is not any single enclosure in particular but the concentration itself, suggesting a sustained pattern of settlement or landholding in this part of south-west Kerry across a considerable span of time.