Ringforts, known in Irish as raths when formed primarily from earthen banks, were the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically serving as enclosed farmsteads for a single family or small community. This one in Cooltomin sits on ground that falls gently westward towards a river, a placement that would have made practical sense to whoever chose the site many centuries ago. What survives today is a roughly circular enclosure measuring approximately 29 metres north to south and 30.5 metres east to west, its defining bank a composite of earth and stone, incorporating large blocks of rough limestone.

The bank itself stands around 0.8 metres above the interior ground level and 0.6 metres above the exterior, figures recorded by Denis Power when the site was surveyed and compiled for the record in August 2011. At the north-northwest, the bank has been partially removed across a gap of roughly 2.6 metres, and here a line of large stones set edge to edge marks what would have been the outer face of the structure. This kind of deliberate stone-facing is a detail easily missed from a distance, but it speaks to the original construction method, where a core of piled earth was retained or reinforced by placed stonework. Inside, a smaller subsidiary bank, about 0.4 metres high, runs inward from the northeast section of the inner face, its purpose now unclear, though internal divisions within ringforts are not unknown and may have separated livestock areas from living space.

Accessing the site requires crossing private farmland, so appropriate permissions should be sought before attempting a visit. The interior is described as uneven, littered with loose stones and organic debris, and the centre is heavily obscured by dense overgrowth, which means that much of the detail visible at the banks is harder to read closer in. A visit in late autumn or winter, when vegetation dies back, would give a clearer sense of the circuit and the stonework at the gap. The subsidiary internal bank at the northeast is the feature most worth locating, as it adds a layer of complexity to what might otherwise read as a straightforward enclosure. Sturdy footwear and patience with brambles are advisable.