A souterrain, to give the structure its proper name, is an artificial underground chamber or tunnel, typically constructed during the early medieval period in Ireland, roughly between the seventh and twelfth centuries. They were built by hand, usually from dry-stone walling roofed with large lintels, and dug into the earth beside or beneath a settlement. Their purpose is still debated, with scholars pointing variously to food storage, refuge during raids, or simply secure shelter for livestock and valuables.

The Lisheenbaun example is one of many such features catalogued across Kerry, a county where the density of early medieval settlement has left a remarkable underground legacy. The name Lisheenbaun itself suggests proximity to a ringfort, "lisheen" being a diminutive of "lios", the Irish word for a fort enclosure, and "baun" likely deriving from "bán", meaning white or pale. Souterrains are very frequently found in association with ringforts, the enclosed farmsteads that once defined the rural landscape of early Christian Ireland, and it is reasonable to read the placename here as a clue to the wider archaeological context of the site.

Beyond its existence as a recorded monument, the detailed particulars of this souterrain remain sparse in the public domain. What can be said is that Kerry's landscape conceals a great number of these structures, some intact and accessible, others collapsed or overgrown to the point of invisibility at ground level. A low depression in a field, a slight irregularity in the grass, or a scatter of disturbed stone can sometimes be the only surface trace of a passage that once mattered considerably to the people who dug it.