This is a rath, the Irish term for a ringfort, a type of enclosed settlement that was constructed in enormous numbers across Ireland during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. Thousands survive in various states of preservation, yet each one carries its own particular character, and this example at Mitchellsfort is no exception.

The enclosure measures approximately 26 metres north to south and 27.5 metres east to west, making it a fairly modest but well-defined site. It is bounded by an earthen bank standing about 1.6 metres high at its best-preserved sections, with a shallow fosse, or external ditch, running around the outside. The bank is noticeably lower along the northern and southern arcs, and in several places traces of what appears to be ancient stone facing are still visible within the earthwork, suggesting that the original construction incorporated stonework which has since largely disappeared into the surrounding ground. The interior is level and carries faint cultivation ridges running east to west, thin parallel undulations in the soil that hint at agricultural use long after the site's original occupants were gone. Ringforts typically served as enclosed farmsteads, providing protection for a family, their livestock, and their stores, and the evidence of later tillage here suggests the enclosed space remained useful to successive generations in ways its builders may not have anticipated.