Ringforts, known in Irish as raths, are enclosures typically dating from the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries, built by farming families as a combination of homestead and defended enclosure. Thousands survive across Ireland, but this one at Kilgar carries an additional feature inside its own boundary: a sub-rectangular hut site visible in the southern quadrant of the interior, connected to the enclosing bank by a low earthen ridge running from the east-northeast. The presence of an internal subdivision like this, a separate defined space within an already enclosed area, gives the site a slightly more complex domestic arrangement than a simple single-household rath would suggest.

The ringfort itself is sub-circular in plan, measuring approximately eighteen metres north to south and twenty metres east to west, and sits on a naturally prominent rise in otherwise gently undulating land. The enclosing earthen bank survives in poor condition, and an external fosse, a defensive ditch dug around the outside of the bank, can still be traced. The interior rises toward the centre, which is consistent with the raised, drained character typical of these sites. A second ringfort lies roughly 175 metres to the northwest, which raises the possibility that the two enclosures were associated, perhaps belonging to related households working the same landscape. The views from the rise extend to the northwest, north-northeast, and east, suggesting the location was chosen as much for surveillance of the surrounding land as for the practical advantages of slightly elevated, well-drained ground.