The pits, charcoal-stained along their sides, cut through the fosse and bank of a nearby ringfort, which adds a layer of ambiguity to the site. A ringfort, for those unfamiliar, is a circular enclosure typical of early medieval Ireland, defined by one or more earthen banks and ditches; when pits are found cutting through that kind of structure, it raises questions about what came after.

The site was observed by O'Connell in 1938, who noted the pits on the north-western side of the ringfort. The charcoal staining prompted speculation that the ground had once hosted a kiln, a small localised quarry, or perhaps a metalworking operation. None of these possibilities has been confirmed, and the uncertainty is part of what makes the spot quietly interesting. A limekiln, a stone-built structure used to burn limestone into quicklime for use in agriculture and construction, is marked on the Ordnance Survey twenty-five-inch map of 1892 roughly 240 metres to the east-northeast. Whether that recorded kiln and the charcoal-stained pits represent the same tradition of activity, or entirely separate ones, is left open.