A cashel is a type of ringfort built from dry-stone walling rather than earthen banks, a construction technique more common in the west of Ireland where surface stone is abundant. These enclosures were typically built during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and served as the fortified homesteads of farming families or local lords.

Rathclooney itself carries the echo of earlier occupation in its very name. The Irish "ráth" refers to a ringfort, suggesting the area has long been associated with this kind of enclosed settlement. Clare is particularly dense with such monuments, the county's limestone terrain lending itself both to the survival of stone structures and to the pastoral farming economy that made ringforts such a characteristic feature of the early Irish countryside. A cashel of this type would originally have enclosed a family's dwelling, outbuildings, and livestock, the thick stone wall providing both physical protection and a clear statement of territorial ownership in a society organised around kinship and cattle.