It is a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, the most common type of early medieval settlement monument in the Irish countryside. These were typically the enclosed farmsteads of farmers and local landowners, built roughly between the sixth and tenth centuries, and defined by a circular earthen bank thrown up around a domestic interior. Thousands survive across Ireland in varying states of preservation, and this one near Ardfinnan is among the quieter examples.

The enclosure is roughly circular, measuring approximately 33 metres north to south and 38 metres east to west. The earthen bank that defines it varies considerably in width, from around 2.3 metres at its narrowest to 7.5 metres at its broadest at the base, and stands to an internal height of about 1.33 metres, with a slightly more pronounced external face of roughly 1.87 metres. The bank is noticeably less defined on its upslope north-east side, which may reflect the practical logic of the original builders, who would have needed less artificial elevation where the natural slope already provided some defensive or visual advantage. The River Suir runs approximately 300 metres to the south, close enough to have made this a well-positioned enclosure in terms of both water access and the fertile pasture land that surrounds it still.