"Caher" derives from the Irish cathair, referring to a stone fort or enclosure, the kind of circular walled structure that dots the limestone landscapes of the west of Ireland. That the placename itself preserves this word suggests the enclosure here was significant enough, and old enough, to shape how people identified the land around it for generations.

Beyond the name, the details of this particular enclosure remain largely unrecorded in any accessible public form. What can be said is that enclosures of this type in County Clare generally belong to the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries, and served a range of purposes, from defended farmsteads to the enclosed settlements of minor lords. Clare is especially dense with such remains, owing in part to the region's rocky terrain, which made dry-stone construction a practical and lasting choice. The Burren to the north is the most celebrated concentration, but enclosures survive across the county in varying states of completeness, some reduced to a scatter of tumbled stone, others still carrying their walls to a considerable height.