Conjoined raths of this kind are relatively uncommon, and the physical connection between the two here, a gap in the southern bank of the larger enclosure opening directly into its smaller companion, suggests a deliberate and coordinated design rather than two forts that simply happened to grow close over time.

A ringfort, or rath, is a roughly circular enclosure defined by one or more earthen or stone banks and, typically, an external fosse, meaning a ditch dug to provide the material for the bank and to add a further obstacle at the perimeter. They were built predominantly during the early medieval period, between roughly the fifth and twelfth centuries, and served as enclosed farmsteads for a single family or small household. At Liscappul, the northern rath is the larger of the two, measuring approximately 42 metres east to west and 38 metres north to south, with a stone-lined bank and an external fosse that survives best along its western arc. A gap of around two metres at the south-east may represent the original entrance. The smaller south-western rath is nearly circular at 26 metres by 25 metres and has its own bank and fosse, though both enclosures are substantially obscured by overgrowth. A trackway, of uncertain date, cuts across the raths, a reminder that later land use rarely paused to accommodate older monuments beneath it.