The earthen bank, roughly two metres high and enclosing a circular area about 34 metres across, is the kind of structure that reads as a natural feature to the uninformed eye, a gentle ridge in the land. Loose stones have been dumped onto the bank in places, and further stones lie inside it to the south-west and west, suggesting later disturbance or clearance.

This is a rath, the most common class of monument in the Irish archaeological record. Raths are roughly circular enclosures defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches, built and occupied primarily during the early medieval period, broadly between the fifth and twelfth centuries. They served as farmsteads for farming families of varying status, the bank and ditch providing a degree of security for livestock as much as for people. What makes the Cloonareague example particularly interesting is the presence of a souterrain in its northern half. A souterrain is an underground stone-lined passage or chamber, typically associated with ringforts, and likely used for cool storage, refuge, or both. The combination of a well-preserved earthen enclosure and an intact souterrain in the same site is a reminder that these monuments were functional, lived-in complexes rather than ceremonial constructions.