Known in Irish as a ráth, this type of monument is one of the most common archaeological features on the island, typically consisting of a roughly circular area enclosed by one or more earthen banks and ditches. They date mainly from the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries, and functioned as farmsteads, the homes and working enclosures of farming families rather than military fortifications in any conventional sense. Clare alone contains hundreds of them, scattered across its limestone plains and low hills, many still clearly visible as raised rims in pasture fields.

Beyond its location at Knockmore and its classification as a rath, the detailed history of this particular site remains, for now, largely undocumented in any publicly accessible form. What can be said is that the Knockmore area, like much of County Clare, was densely settled during the early medieval period, and ringforts in this part of the country often occupy slight rises in the ground, positioned to give a degree of visibility over surrounding farmland. The earthworks of a rath, when intact, typically survive as a low circular bank, sometimes with a visible entrance gap, and the interior may once have held a timber dwelling, animal pens, or storage structures, all long since gone.