A rath, sometimes called a ringfort, was a circular or oval area enclosed by one or more earthen banks and ditches, used throughout the early medieval period as a farmstead and domestic compound. Within this particular example, two hut sites have been identified, one occupying the northern half of the enclosure and one the southern, suggesting the interior was divided between separate structures rather than left open as a yard or yard-like space.

The northern hut site is subrectangular in plan, measuring roughly 10.3 metres north to south and 5.1 metres east to west, and is defined by a low earthen bank. These dimensions are modest, consistent with a small domestic or ancillary building rather than anything approaching a hall. The pairing of two hut sites within a single rath is a detail worth pausing over: it implies either a household of some complexity, with separate spaces serving different functions, or perhaps successive occupation across different periods. The survey of Ballinrobe and District, which recorded this site, noted both structures as part of the same enclosure, placing them in a landscape that was clearly inhabited and organised long before the Norman period reshaped much of Connacht.