These structures, known interchangeably as raths or ringforts, were the most common form of rural settlement in Ireland between roughly the sixth and twelfth centuries. A typical rath consisted of one or more concentric earthen banks and ditches enclosing a central area where a family and their household would have lived, farmed, and kept livestock safe from raids. Thousands survive across the island, yet each one represents a particular community in a particular place, and Gortnaleaha is no exception.

The townland name itself offers a small clue to the character of the place. Gortnaleaha derives from the Irish, most likely relating to a field or plot of land associated with flagstones or flat rocks, suggesting a terrain shaped as much by geology as by human settlement. Kerry's landscape is dense with archaeological remains from this period, the peninsula's relative isolation having helped preserve earthworks that elsewhere were ploughed flat or built over. A rath in this county would have formed the centre of a farming household's world, its enclosing bank as much a statement of social standing as a practical barrier. The number of banks surrounding a rath often reflected the status of its occupants, with multiple enclosures indicating higher rank within the local túath, or petty kingdom.