These circular earthworks, known variously as raths or ringforts, were the dominant form of rural settlement during the early medieval period, roughly from the fifth to the twelfth centuries. A typical example consisted of a raised circular area enclosed by one or more earthen banks and ditches, within which a family would have kept their home and livestock. Some were modest farmsteads; others, with multiple enclosing rings, suggest higher social status or greater wealth.

The Rosslevan example belongs to this broad and ancient category, though the specific details of its construction, condition, and history remain largely undocumented in publicly available sources at present. What can be said is that Clare as a whole is rich in early medieval earthworks, and townland names in the region often preserve traces of older land divisions and settlement patterns stretching back well over a thousand years. The word "rath" itself is an Irish term for a ringfort defined by earthen rather than stone banks, distinguishing it from the stone-built cashels more commonly found in the west of Ireland, particularly on exposed limestone terrain.