A site old enough to have left physical traces, and significant enough to have attracted the attention of researchers, was somehow passed over entirely by the mapmakers. That absence alone is quietly telling.

What little is known about the site comes from two sources separated by more than a century. Writing in 1886, the geologist G.H. Kinahan described Garrykennedy as a very ancient mine, noting that stone and wood implements had been recovered from what were called the "Old Men's Workings", a phrase used by miners historically to describe excavations of uncertain but clearly pre-modern origin. The presence of stone and wooden tools suggests activity that may predate the use of metal mining equipment, possibly placing the site in prehistory, though no firm date has been established. In January 1996, Dr William O'Brien of NUI Galway visited the site and confirmed that a number of the mine workings were still physically extant, meaning the shafts, cuts, or surface disturbances associated with the old digging remained visible on the ground. Their age, however, remains unknown.