The element "rath" refers to a ringfort, the circular earthwork enclosure that was the dominant form of rural settlement in early medieval Ireland, typically consisting of a raised bank and ditch enclosing a homestead used by a farming family of some local standing. That a ringfort once stood here, or perhaps still does in some form, is effectively announced by the place name itself, which has preserved the memory of the monument long after the structure may have faded into the landscape.

Ringforts were built and occupied roughly between the sixth and twelfth centuries, though some were constructed earlier and many continued in use well beyond that period. Thousands survive across Ireland in varying states of preservation, from well-defined earthen banks with clear ditches to barely perceptible cropmark traces visible only from the air. In Kerry, where the density of early medieval settlement was considerable, such sites are not unusual, but each one represents a distinct household, a named place, a unit of land with its own social and agricultural history. The fact that Rathpoge takes its name directly from this monument suggests the fort was once prominent enough in the local landscape to define the entire area around it.

Beyond what the place name itself communicates, detailed information about the specific character, condition, and dimensions of this particular site is not currently available in the public record.