Ringforts, circular enclosures defined by earthen banks or stone walls, were the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically serving as farmsteads for a single family or small community. What makes Lisderg worth a second look is the density of occupation suggested by those four distinct structures, all compressed within a single bank.

The enclosing bank itself is substantial: 5.5 metres wide, rising 1.6 metres on its outer face and just under a metre above the level of the interior, which sits at roughly the same height as the surrounding land. The four house-sites, all built of stone, vary noticeably in form and scale. The largest, positioned to the south-east, is sub-rectangular and measures approximately 8 metres by 7.4 metres externally, with walls reaching about a metre in thickness. To the west, a curved sub-semi-circular enclosure presses into the bank itself, and a short distance north of that sits a small rectangular structure, just 4.2 metres by 3.5 metres on the outside, with walls 0.6 metres thick. Loose stones elsewhere in the interior suggest further features that have yet to be fully interpreted. The site lies to the south-east of St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, and the surrounding terrain opens up with views in most directions. The description comes from Caroline Toal's North Kerry Archaeological Survey, published in 1995.