In flat, open pasture this kind of profile is easy to overlook entirely, which is probably why ringforts, or raths, have survived so well in the Irish countryside. A rath is an enclosed farmstead of the early medieval period, typically built by a single family, with a circular earthen bank and an outer ditch providing a modest but meaningful boundary against both livestock and intruders. This one at Riddlestown is unassuming even by those modest standards.

The fort is roughly circular, measuring 32.9 metres north to south and 30.1 metres east to west. The earthen bank rises only 0.6 metres above the interior ground level, though viewed from outside it stands 1.3 metres tall, because the outer fosse, a shallow ditch running around the perimeter, drops the external ground level by comparison. That fosse is now only about 0.1 metres deep and 1.6 metres wide, much reduced from whatever it would have been when the enclosure was in regular use. A gap of roughly 2.2 metres in the bank at the south-east almost certainly marks the original entrance, a standard position for Irish ringfort entrances, likely chosen to face the morning sun. The interior is level and has remained under pasture, which, combined with the bush cover along the bank, has helped preserve the earthwork from more serious disturbance. The site was documented by Denis Power and aerial photographs were taken in March 2006 as part of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland record.

The fort sits in level farmland, and because there is no elevated ground nearby to offer a vantage point, the low bank reads more clearly from aerial photographs than from the field itself. Visitors approaching on foot should look for the telltale ring of scrub vegetation, which tends to stand out even when the earthwork beneath it does not. The interior gives little away at ground level; the pasture is undisturbed and there are no surface features to speak of. The south-east gap in the bank is the clearest structural detail to look for once you are close enough. Access to sites like this generally depends on the goodwill of the landowner, and standard countryside courtesies apply.