Court tombs are among the oldest megalithic monuments in Ireland, typically dating to the Neolithic period, roughly 4000 to 3500 BCE. They are defined by a roofless semicircular or full-circle forecourt of upright stones opening into one or more roofed gallery chambers, the whole originally buried beneath a long cairn of stone or earth. The forecourt is thought to have served a ritual or ceremonial function, suggesting these were not simply burial sites but places where the living gathered in relation to their dead.

The principal scholarly record for this tomb comes from Ruaidhrí de Valera and Seán Ó Nualláin, whose Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland, Volume II, covering County Mayo, was published by the Stationery Office in Dublin in 1964. That volume remains a foundational reference for megalithic monuments across the county, cataloguing court tombs, portal tombs, and passage tombs with careful attention to the structural details of each site. Mayo has a notable concentration of court tombs relative to other Irish counties, which may reflect both the density of Neolithic settlement in the region and the relatively good conditions for surface survival of stone monuments in upland and western terrain.