This is a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, a type of enclosed farmstead that was built and occupied primarily during the early medieval period, roughly 500 to 1200 AD. Tens of thousands once dotted the Irish countryside, and while many have been levelled by ploughing or development, this one at Kilcarra More has survived with its essential form intact, the bank and its accompanying external ditch, known as a fosse, still clearly legible in the landscape.

The site is what archaeologists call univallate, meaning it has a single enclosing bank rather than the two or three concentric rings that mark higher-status examples. The interior measures roughly 25 metres north to south and 24 metres east to west, a compact but workable space that would once have contained a family's dwelling, outbuildings, and perhaps animal pens. The enclosing bank is well-defined for most of its circuit, and the fosse is particularly clear to the west, varying between one and 2.6 metres in width. Two gaps break the bank, one to the east measuring 4.6 metres and another to the west at 2.6 metres, likely representing original entrances rather than later damage. A possible outer bank can also be traced to the east for roughly 14 metres, hinting that the enclosure may have been more elaborate than its present univallate appearance suggests. Later fieldbanks cut across the site to the north-north-east and run along its south-western and north-western sides, evidence of how agricultural boundaries accumulated around and through the ancient structure over the centuries. The rath sits on pastureland that slopes north-east toward the River Feale, a setting that would have offered its original occupants both drainage and proximity to water.