Circular enclosures of this type are among the most common archaeological features found in Ireland, typically serving as enclosures for farmsteads, high-status residences, or places of ritual significance, though distinguishing between these purposes often depends on what is found within the enclosed area itself.

The evidence at Annakisha was brought to light through work carried out by Ó Drisceoil and Jennings in 2012. Archaeological testing, as a method, involves small-scale exploratory excavation designed to confirm or characterise a feature before any larger intervention, and the circular form identified here places it within a category of enclosure that spans a broad period of Irish prehistory and early medieval settlement. Annakisha itself sits in north County Cork, a part of the country that has yielded numerous similar features over the course of development-led and research archaeology in recent decades.