A souterrain is an underground stone-lined passage or chamber, typically associated with early medieval settlement in Ireland, often used for storage or refuge. The carvings here are quiet and unassuming: a series of concentric circles and the outline of a four-legged animal, scratched into stone or, possibly, into the layer of dried mud that coats the bedrock beneath. That ambiguity alone gives the site an unusual character. Whether the marks were cut directly into the living rock or only into the accumulated grime and sediment that clings to it has not been resolved, which means even the physical nature of what survives remains an open question.

The date of the carvings is uncertain. Concentric circle motifs have a long history in Irish stone art, appearing in prehistoric contexts as well as later periods, so the design offers little by way of firm dating. The quadruped, a simple animal figure, is similarly difficult to pin down without additional evidence. A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan documented the site in their 1996 archaeological survey of the Iveragh Peninsula, published by Cork University Press, which remains the primary source of detailed description. The monument is protected under a preservation order, originally made in 1940 and maintained under successive National Monuments Acts, which reflects the significance attached to the site even where its meaning and age remain unresolved.