Three of the structures sit on an island within a stream, which is an unusual arrangement in itself, with a fourth positioned slightly higher on the mountain slope above the main group. The whole complex is sheltered within a bowl-shaped recess in the hillside, a natural hollow that would have offered some protection from the Atlantic weather that moves freely across this part of south Kerry.

The site forms part of a denser concentration of early remains in the area. Immediately to the west, the foundations of a further possible hut survive, though poorly preserved and largely overgrown. This conjoined structure, small at roughly 2.4 metres by 1.5 metres, incorporates a single large upright stone at its western end. Conjoined or attached huts, where one small cell is built directly against another, are known elsewhere in early Irish settlement archaeology, often interpreted as ancillary spaces for storage or animals adjoining a primary dwelling. The details here were recorded as part of the archaeological survey of the Iveragh Peninsula, compiled by A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan and published by Cork University Press in 1996, which remains one of the more thorough regional surveys of its kind in Ireland.

Knocknadobar rises sharply from the shoreline near Cahersiveen, and the slopes above Coonanna Harbour are not heavily visited. The huts are situated in terrain that rewards careful navigation rather than a casual walk, and the overgrown state of at least one structure means that what is visible on the ground may be considerably less legible than the recorded dimensions suggest.