A cashel is a type of ringfort built from dry-stone walling rather than earthen banks, and they are particularly associated with the rocky terrain of the west of Ireland, where loose limestone made stone construction more practical than cutting into the ground. Clare has a considerable concentration of them, owing in part to the Burren's famous pavements and the broader geology of the county, and many survive in varying states of completeness on farmland that has changed little in centuries.

Ringforts in general, whether earthen or stone-built, date predominantly from the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries, and functioned as enclosed farmsteads for a single family or small community. The circular enclosure provided a boundary for livestock and a degree of security, and some sites contain the remains of souterrains, underground stone-lined passages that may have served for storage or as places of refuge. Beyond its classification as a cashel in Gorteen townland, the specific history of this particular site remains thinly documented in any source available to the general reader.