These enclosures, typically defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches, were the farmsteads of early medieval Ireland, built and occupied roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. They were not primarily defensive structures in the military sense; rather, the bank and ditch marked out a household's territory, sheltered livestock, and carried considerable social weight. To have one was a mark of status.

The ringfort at Dromultan sits within a landscape already dense with such monuments. Kerry has an unusually high concentration of raths, a reflection of the pastoral farming economy that shaped the province through the early medieval period. The word "rath" itself refers specifically to an earthen-banked enclosure, distinguishing it from a "cashel", its stone-walled equivalent, which is equally common in Kerry given the abundance of local stone. Beyond its classification and location, the particular history of this site, its builder, its occupation, and any finds or features associated with it, remains to be formally documented in the public record.