The rath at Lissaniska is not especially famous, and that is part of what makes it worth knowing about. It measures roughly 47.5 metres east to west and 37 metres north to south, defined by an earthen bank and an external fosse, the ditch dug around the outside to reinforce the enclosure. What survives is described as well-preserved, which in the context of Irish ringforts is no small thing.

Raths were enclosed farmsteads, built in their thousands across Ireland roughly between the early medieval period and the Norman arrival. The raised bank and surrounding ditch were less about military defence and more about marking a family's territory and protecting livestock from both theft and predators. The entrance causeway at Lissaniska, on the south-south-east side and about eight metres wide, is wide enough to have allowed the movement of animals in and out, suggesting a working agricultural enclosure rather than a purely symbolic one. The place name itself carries a clue: Lissaniska likely derives from the Irish lios, meaning a fort or enclosure, the very feature that defines the site.