The structure itself is a univallate ringfort, meaning a single-ditched enclosure, its circular interior still defined by a well-preserved bank of earth and stone with an outer fosse, the shallow ditch that originally helped to demarcate the space. Ringforts of this kind were typically the farmsteads of early medieval Ireland, and the name Seaneasta, meaning "old abode", fits that reading. But local tradition has long held a second account of the place, one that has nothing to do with habitation.

According to tradition recorded by John O'Donovan during the Ordnance Survey work of the nineteenth century, the ringfort was used as a children's burial ground. These informal burial grounds, sometimes called cillíní or lisreens, were widespread across Ireland and were typically used for unbaptised infants, who were excluded by Church practice from consecrated ground. The use of a pre-existing earthwork for such burials was not unusual; the liminal, non-ecclesiastical character of ringforts made them common choices. The name Seaneasta, with its suggestion of an abandoned domestic site, may itself have contributed to the sense that this was a place set apart from ordinary Christian space. The detail was noted in the North Kerry Archaeological Survey, compiled by C. Toal and published in 1995.