Ringforts, known in Irish as raths, were the most common form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically consisting of a raised circular enclosure defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches. They served as farmsteads for families of varying social rank, and tens of thousands of them once dotted the Irish countryside. Many have been ploughed out or built over; those that survive tend to do so because the land around them was never dramatically disturbed, or because local tradition attached enough significance to them to discourage interference.

The place name Lismulbreeda offers a small clue to the site's history. "Lis" is itself an Irish word for a fort or enclosure, closely related to rath, and its presence in the townland name suggests that the monument was prominent enough, and old enough, to give its character to the surrounding land. This kind of naming pattern is common across Clare and the wider west of Ireland, where the fort often predates any other identifiable feature of the settled landscape by centuries. Beyond that, the documentary record for this particular site is thin, and the archaeology has not yet been fully examined or published in accessible form.