On the northern side, the outer face of the enclosing bank simply merges into the steep sides of the river gully, so that the ground itself completes the circuit. It is a practical arrangement that tells you something about how early medieval people read terrain, choosing a site where the river's erosion had already done much of the defensive work for them.

A ringfort, sometimes called a rath, is an enclosed farmstead of the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to twelfth centuries, typically circular and bounded by one or more earthen banks. This example at Cloonascoffagh is a moderately sized one, the interior measuring just under 26 metres in diameter. The enclosing bank is substantial, between 6 and 6.3 metres wide, and rises to about 1.8 metres on its outer face on the western side. At the inner foot of that western bank, traces of a stone kerb survive, suggesting the earthwork was once neatly faced or stabilised with stone. A raised terrace roughly 3 metres wide runs along the interior at the north-east to east, which may have served as a platform for a structure or storage. Two gaps break the bank, one at the north-east about 2 metres wide and one at the south-west somewhat narrower; the north-east opening is considered the more likely candidate for the original entrance.