The shape itself is a clue to how this place was made and used. Where the land already drops away sharply on the northern, southern, and western sides, the builders needed to add very little; the natural scarps did most of the defensive work, and the constructed bank, rising only between 0.45 and 0.65 metres, was sufficient to complete the enclosure.

This is a ringfort, the most common surviving monument type in the Irish landscape. Ringforts were typically built during the early medieval period, roughly between the fifth and twelfth centuries, and served as enclosed farmsteads for individual family groups. They range from simple earthen banks like this one to more elaborate stone-walled versions known as cashels. The Cloghleagh example belongs to the simpler earthwork tradition, its enclosure measuring approximately 30 metres east to west and 25 metres north to south. What makes it quietly interesting is the economy of its construction. The promontory was chosen precisely because nature had already done so much of the work, leaving the builders to close off only what the landscape left open.