Ringforts, known in Irish as raths when constructed from earthen banks and ditches, were the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, built roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. Tens of thousands once existed across the country, and though many survive as grass-covered rings visible from the road or from the air, a significant number have been quietly erased by ploughing and development over the centuries. The one at Ballytarsna is recorded, which means it was identified and noted, but beyond that basic fact the documentary record is, for now, thin.