What lies beneath, however, is almost certainly something more deliberate: a souterrain, an artificially constructed underground passage or chamber built, most likely, during the early medieval period. These stone-lined tunnels were common features of early Irish settlement, used variously for cold storage, refuge, or concealment, and they tend to surface in the landscape not with any drama but quietly, through stories and half-remembered names.

The site sits on the south-western slopes of Drom Hill, about 300 metres south-east of a related monument on the same hillside. From this position it commands a wide outlook in all directions, with a particularly clear view southward towards the central mountain ridge of the peninsula. That placement is unlikely to be accidental; souterrains are frequently associated with nearby settlement sites or enclosures, and an elevated position with good visibility over the surrounding landscape would have suited a community that needed both to watch and to store. The tradition of a cave, recorded in J. Cuppage's 1986 archaeological survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region, is the kind of folk memory that often points archaeologists towards something real underground, where the structure has partly collapsed or become overgrown but its presence lingers in local knowledge long after the stonework is lost to sight.