Enclosures of this kind are among the most common, and most ambiguous, features of the Irish archaeological countryside. The term covers a broad range of structures, from the earthen ringforts of the early medieval period, used as farmsteads and places of settlement, to later field enclosures whose purpose was purely agricultural. Without further detail, the name itself offers the only real clue: Rathgranagher contains the Irish word rath, typically referring to a circular earthen enclosure, which hints that what survives here may be the remains of a ringfort rather than a later boundary feature.