The rath at Ardour, in County Galway, is precisely that: a roughly rectangular enclosure, measuring around 40.5 metres east to west and 34 metres north to south, sitting quietly in level grassland with its geometry intact enough to read clearly from ground level.

Ringforts, known in Irish as raths when defined by earthen banks rather than stone walls, were the dominant form of enclosed farmstead in Ireland from roughly the early medieval period onwards. Most were home to a single farming family and their livestock, protected by a bank, or sometimes two, with a ditch (fosse) dug between them. At Ardour, the double enclosure is still legible: two banks with an intervening fosse survive along the arc running from the south-east, around the western side, and up to the north. A field bank has been built over the outer bank along the southern side at some point, blurring that stretch of the original earthwork, and two small quarries have bitten into the enclosing elements at the north and south-east. A possible entrance has been identified at the south-west, which is a fairly typical placement for Irish ringforts. What makes Ardour worth pausing over is the shape itself. Quadrangular raths are far less common than their circular counterparts, and the reasons for the variation are not fully understood; it may reflect local topography, individual preference, or the influence of a particular building tradition, but no single explanation has settled the debate.